In KPMG’s bi-annual “The Pulse of Fintech 2018” report, the tax advisory service details the tremendous increase in blockchain spending occurring this year as compared to last year.

The bi-annual report highlights key activities and trends within the Fintech markets on a global and regional level. One important aspect of this report is its analysis of trends within the blockchain markets, which have differed greatly in 2018 than in 2017. The report showed a large increase in investor interest in highly developed blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, like Ledger and Circle. These investors were less interested in startup companies in the space.

The KPMG report stated that:

“Investor interest in blockchain was not limited to one jurisdiction. Good sized funding rounds were seen during the first half of the year, including $100 million+ rounds to R3 and Circle Internet Finance in the US and $77 million to Ledger in France. The US was particularly active on the blockchain front, with total investment in the first half of the year already exceeding the total seen in 2017.”

The report also notes that blockchain technologies are moving out of the experimentation faze and are becoming increasingly adopted. This adoption is particularly occurring in the United States, despite unclear regulations. Even foreign based companies, like cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain, are beginning to expand into the United States.

Increased interest in blockchain and other cutting-edge technologies has led to a surge in investor activity. So far, in the first two quarters of 2018 alone, investment in global fintech has surpassed the entire amount of investments made throughout all of 2017.

KPMG also anticipates investments in fintech to increase throughout the last half of 2018, saying:

“Investments in insurtech and regtech are expected to grow over the next 6 months, in addition to investments in enabling technologies like AI, RPA and blockchain. Open banking will likely continue to gain ground around the world — including Asia, where the Hong Kong (SAR) Monetary Authority recently published its open API framework.”

In addition to massive growth in the United States, the report also found that blockchain technologies are being implemented in multiple industries in Canada, even though the government decided against using blockchain as part of its payments modernization initiative.