After a deep bear market in cryptocurrencies, the market is slowly starting to pick up again – and bitcoin (BTC) is one of the most popular coins. Companies in the crypto industry apparently notice this too, because the companies that focus specifically on bitcoin are the most successful with investors, according to research.
Bitcoin startups grew faster than others
This is evident from a research from Trammell Venture Partners (TVP). This company specifically focuses on these types of ‘bitcoin companies’, such as companies working on the Lightning Network. These are companies that “see bitcoin as the new global monetary asset of the future and as internet-native, digital cash,” according to TVP.
The fund also has ‘ordinary crypto exchanges’ in its portfolio, but in the new research of this company it does not seem to include these companies. Bitcoin miners and companies that are already at a further stage do not count it either.
According to TVP, crypto startups in general experienced growth of just 1% in 2022, but companies specifically focused on bitcoin grew 52.9%. The number of companies in these types of bitcoin startups has grown by 70%, and the number of transactions for the seed funding stage has increased by 133%.
“Opportunity for Bitcoin is huge”
It also seems to suggest that the Bitcoin network is superior to some other blockchains, which would vastly undervalue bitcoin and the companies involved. It illustrates how fast the Lightning Network has grown relative to the number of tokens in the form of wrapped BTC (wBTC). The latter reached its peak in 2022 and has since practically halved. But Lightning Network capacity has grown about 57% over the same period.
The Block spoke to TVP director Christopher Calicott. He thinks people are not aware of how big the opportunity is for bitcoin and Lightning. “Bitcoin has already won as the monetary foundation for the internet,” he stated.
The last thing entrepreneurs want is “platform risk,” by which he means bitcoin alternatives like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL). The risk of the network being unable to do its thing is minimal with bitcoin, Calicott said.