Bitcoin Businesses on the Mend: Report Shows 57% of Crypto Execs Expect the Industry to Accelerate, Companies Are Hiring

Digital Currency Group (DCG) recently published the firm’s “State of Crypto 2020” report which polls more than 150 portfolio crypto companies. According to the study, 75% of the respondents believe the value of their business has grown this year, while 50% of the startups have seen outperforming start-of-year projections.

The state of the cryptocurrency industry is growing according to Digital Currency Group’s (DCG) latest report. The study surveyed over 150 DCG portfolio companies’ executives in order to “quantify sentiment and provide qualitative analysis of operational trends in the crypto community.”

One of the biggest obstacles for these firms was the coronavirus outbreak but many firms have recouped from the Covid-19 crisis. Still, Covid-19 and remote work was the main business challenge in 2020 recorded by 23% of the respondents. Other issues considered included third party delays (21%), fundraising (19%), and technical obstacles (13%).

Unlike 2018 and 2019, jobs in the crypto world are rising as DCG notes that 66% of its portfolio companies reported growing in headcount this year. Despite the Covid-19 uncertainty, roughly 35% of the participants said they plan to hire more people this year.

One of the greatest challenges in the cryptocurrency industry right now, besides Covid-19, is regulatory compliance. The DCG study shows 51% of the survey respondents said compliance and regulation is the biggest concern. Roughly 22% of the executives point to security issues like theft, hacks, and scams.

When asked what the most bullish crypto industry development was in 2020, 39% said that it stemmed from decentralized finance (defi) growth. 21% said that bitcoin (BTC) resilience was a bonus and 15% looked to the stablecoin surge in 2020. 10% of the DCG survey participants look forward to ‘Big Tech’ joining the crypto fray.

The 150 portfolio company execs were also asked if they think Ethereum can scale before competing blockchains can catch up to its defi lead. 51% believe that Ethereum will scale first, 25% detailed that it won’t scale first, and 24% said that they were “unsure.”

DCG’s survey then asked the respondents whether or not they think the crypto industry will “accelerate,” “steady,” or “slow” from here. 57% wholeheartedly believe that the crypto industry will accelerate while 40% envision steady action.

Meanwhile, only 3% of the surveyed individuals thought that the industry would slow down from here. The respondents also envision sub-industry consolidation and the greatest expected consolidation would be exchange platforms.

From here, crypto execs think that the consolidation will stem from wallet and custody solutions, trading tools, and payments respectively.

One event that would propel the industry higher would be an initial public offering (IPO) of a major U.S. based crypto firm most of the respondents noted. “We look to 2020 with a renewed sense of opportunity,” the DCG report highlighted.

“2020 has been filled with the unexpected, sad, and norm-shattering—but it provided our space with that ‘supportive’ opportunity we believed it was primed for, and it has delivered,” DCG’s study concluded. “One event that would definitively mark the end of an industry in the shadows is getting people excited: 95% of our survey respondents said a major U.S. IPO would be a positive development.”

Furthermore, the execs surveyed were also asked what they thought the price of BTC would be in 6 to 12 months from now. 48% said $10k to $15k, 22% said $15k to $20k, 21% the price will cross $21k +, 8% think it will be between $5k to $10k, and only 1% assume the price will be below $5,000 per coin.