The current United States (US) policies and stance are making it appear that the U.S regulators are pushing cryptocurrency investors towards Europe.
The Midwest region of America has been referred to as the Midwest country by the political observers, as the candidates for the Presidential election flyover it, but never grace it with their visit. A place similar to this also exists to the east of America for the investment of capital, and that is known as Europe.
Although the continent offers huge investment opportunities, it is no way near to that of Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Shanghai. Making most startup owners to ‘flyover’ this region towards the areas where they can find investors for their startup companies.
This preference of startup companies seems to indicate that Europe does not offer the type of investment that is available in the U.S or China.
At the beginning of 2019, some of the most sought after British computer scientists left for Silicon Valley to initiate the first-ever quantum computer company that is commercially viable. Moreover, the funding that is available for Silicon Valley tends to dwarf the VC market of Europe.
Although Europe’s GDP is somewhat similar to that of China or the U.S, yet the tech industry of Europe is lagging since 2000. Last year, collectively the tech firms of America were worth a little over one and a quarter trillion dollars ($1.37T), while Europe’s tech firms were around two hundred and forty billion dollars ($240B) mark.
Crowd for Angels’ CEO Andrew Adcock stated that the investors in Europe are willing to witness more growth. Crowd for Angels is a Crowdfund platform that is regulated by FCA.
He further stated that a significant reduction in risk appetite had been witnessed over several months; the investors are seeking to invest in companies that are at some subsequent stage rather than the startups that are newly established.
The same trend can be witnessed for the digital currency companies, as much of the space is already taken by the Chinese or the American crypto VC’s rather than the European companies. As stated by the Olymp Capital’s CEO Christophe De Courson, most often they are the only French VCs in conferences.
Olymp Capital is Europe’s first digital assessment management fund company based in Luxembourg, which was launched last year in July. Generally, the fund deals with rounds of private equity in the initial phases of European projects. De Courson stated that this is exactly what the traditional investors are seeking — further explaining that these equity stakes provide a much familiar type of exposure, as compared to the tokens.
Reportedly, the demand for cryptocurrencies in Europe seems to be increasing. In 2018, the four topmost deals of cryptocurrencies in Europe raised about three hundred million dollars.
The said venture capitalists (VCs) splashed the record two hundred and forty million dollars ($250M) in the crypto industry of the UK. Europe’s two most active blockchain investors BlueYard Capital and the Fabric Venture stared in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
The Olymp has by far invested in five of the infrastructural projects, investing approximately twenty-five percent of their portfolio in the digital assets. The CEO De Courson, in this regard, stated that they certainly do not oppose opportunistic investments, but lack of diligence is prevalent in crypto space as compared to other investment markets.
Even though America remains the most sought after place for startups to expand, yet some analysts are skeptical about the presence of digital currencies in Silicon Valley. The underlying cause of this skepticism could be the regulatory authorities of the U.S who are creating an air of uncertainty and reluctance to accept the new technology — hence paving the way for the European market to come forward and make it mark.
