The market for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is growing quickly. In spring of 2013, the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization was sitting under $1.6 billion. By the end of 2013, the overall market cap reached $15.2 billion until the market crashed after the popular Mt. Gox exchange lost hundreds of millions of dollars of cryptocurrency due to security failures on their exchange. At the end of 2014, the crypto market cap reached about $6 billion. It reached $7 billion by the end of 2015, $18 billion by the end of 2016, and $600 billion by the end of 2017. The immaturity of the fast-emerging crypto market has made it prone to extraordinary volatility as it begins to increasingly capture the public’s attention. Consider this; one year ago, the overall crypto market cap was $28.2 billion. Today the market cap is around $330 billion. In one year, the market has grown over 1,100%.

Increasing Amounts of SEC Filings

As the crypto market grows, a growing number of crypto and blockchain related companies are also filing with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC now treats the sale of many cryptocurrencies as securities, prompting many crypto and blockchain companies to file Form D Notices that offer certain exemptions from the Securities Act's registration requirements. In the SEC’s EDGAR database, a total of 39 crypto and blockchain related companies with the words “crypto” and “blockchain” in their company names have filed notices with the SEC since 2014. Four of those companies filed from 2014-2016. Twelve filed in 2017, and twenty-three have filed just four and a half months into 2018. From this data, we can infer that the crypto market is maturing rapidly as companies begin to take U.S. cryptocurrency regulations seriously.

Types of Companies Filing With SEC

Investment Companies

28 of the 39 (72%) companies in the data-set filed as investment companies. The rise of these investment companies in the crypto market is evidence that large-scale institutional investments are increasingly pouring into the market. The rapidly growing demand from institutional investors into the market will likely continue to boost the overall crypto market cap in the coming years.

Blockchain Technology Companies

8 of the 39 (20%) companies in the data-set focus on blockchain and computer technology. In a major step forward, these companies are among the first blockchain companies to file with the SEC. Many blockchain companies are often perceived to be fraudulent (sometimes because they are). Filing with the SEC brings instant credibility to these companies by creating public transparency and subjecting them to the jurisdiction of the U.S. government.

These companies provide many valuable uses for blockchain technology. Crypto Bridge Network aims to 1) build a network of global crypto teller machines; 2) use blockchain technology to streamline and facilitate local and international transactions; 3) develop a mobile wallet app that can hold multiple cryptocurrencies; 4) and promote education and awareness of cryptocurrencies through a public service campaign. Crypto Alpha and Crypto Global allow people to invest into ownership and take profits from the companies’ cryptocurrency mining operations. Crypto Move provides decentralized data storage and protection, and can integrate with decentralized crypto-token backed storage systems. CryptoSecurities Exchange is creating an SEC compliant blockchain-based Securities exchange. Blockchain Foundry offers targeted blockchain development and consulting services. Blockchain Power Trust provides 100% green-energy facilities to power cryptocurrency mining and validation at low costs in an environmentally friendly manner.

While the crypto market grows, crypto and blockchain companies are increasingly filing with the SEC to do business underneath U.S. regulatory institutions. As a result, it is likely that crypto markets continue to mature and blockchain technologies continue to progress. Cryptocurrency is quickly moving from the fringe to the mainstream as blockchain technology begins to prove its value to the world.