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State of Bitcoin 2015
7th January 2015
Contents
1. 2014 in Review
1. Q4 Summary
• Price and Valuation
• Media
• VC Investment
• Commerce
• Technology
• Regulation and Macro
2State of Bitcoin 2015
About CoinDesk
• World leader in digital currency news, prices and information
• The Bitcoin Price Index serves as an industry reference point
• International team headquartered in London
• Editors based in London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo
3State of Bitcoin 2015
4State of Bitcoin 2015
2014 in Review
Summary
5State of Bitcoin 2015
Sustained price pressure may lead to
a shakeout in the mining sector and
likely consolidation among exchanges
Overall, 2014 was a ‘tale of two
bitcoins’ – the bitcoin economy made
progress while bitcoin’s price saw a
steady decline
All-time bitcoin VC investment passed
$400m in Q4 and exceeded early-
stage Internet investment in 1995
Q4 saw some regulatory clarity with
welcomed revisions to the NY
BitLicense and no new major
regulatory setbacks
Larger businesses continue to adopt
bitcoin, with Microsoft and Time
accepting bitcoin in Q4
Bitcoin was the worst-performing
currency in 2014, down 67% and
another 18% so far in 2015
Key Bitcoin Adoption Metrics
6State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources and notes: CoinDesk, Blockchain.info, BitcoinPulse, Github, Coin ATM Radar. Figures are cumulative from start of records, except unique bitcoin
addresses and media mentions, which are figures for the quarter ending that month.
Quarterly Last 12 Months
Dec-14 Sep-14 Q/Q Δ Dec-13 Δ
Commerce
Wallets 7,948,272 6,559,978 21% 3,194,584 2x
Merchants 82,000 76,000 8% 35,903 2x
Merchants’ annual revenue ($bn) 180 86 109% 0 N/A
ATMs 341 251 36% 4 85x
Unique bitcoin addresses 157,377 184,554 -15% 108,166 45%
Industry
All-time VC investment ($m) 432.7 302.9 43% 97.9 4x
Number of VC-backed startups 83 68 22% 30 3x
Media
Mainstream media mentions 673 687 -2% 2,889 -76%
Technology
Network hash rate (billion/second) 335,365,290 249,839,180 34% 9,920,977 34x
Github no. of updated repositories 23,249 18,753 24% 4,410 5x
Valuation
Bitcoin market capitalization ($bn) 4.3 5.2 -17% 9.3 -54%
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
$800
$900
$1,000
Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14
11 Apr
PBOC official
says China will
not ban bitcoin
11 Aug
Blockchain first
company to pass
over 2m bitcoin
wallets
11 Dec
Microsoft adds
bitcoin payments
for Xbox games
and mobile content
Key Events and Price Chart in
2014
7State of Bitcoin 2015
23 Sep
PayPal
announces
bitcoin
partnerships
11 Feb
Massive DDoS attack exploits
transaction malleability bug
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, daily data collected at 00:00 UTC www.coindesk.com/price
18 Jul
Dell
announces it
will accept
bitcoin
18 Dec
Favorable revisions
made to proposed NY
BitLicense
18 Jun
List of possible
Silk Road bitcoin
bidders leaked by
US Marshals
6 Mar
Newsweek claims to
have found bitcoin
inventor Satoshi
Nakamoto
25 Feb
Mt Gox closes,
announces
744,408 BTC
($350m) missing
12 Jun
$18m in Silk
Road bitcoins
sold by US
Government
2 Jul
VC Tim Draper
revealed as Silk
Road bitcoin
auction winner
Total Exchange Trading Volume
Increased by Over 50%
8State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources: CoinDesk, Blockchain.info, Bitcoinity
Total Bitcoin Trading Volume (BTC)
51
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2013 2014
Millions
$15
$23
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
2013 2014
Billions
Total Bitcoin Trading Volume ($bn)
CoinDesk's Top 10 News Stories of 2014
9State of Bitcoin 2015
Rank Title Date
1 Bitcoin Exchanges Under 'Massive and Concerted Attack' 11th Feb
2 Why Mt. Gox, the World’s First Bitcoin Exchange, is Dying 8th Feb
3 Alpha Technology Takes Pre-Orders for Litecoin ASIC Miners 3rd Jan
4 Mt. Gox Halts ALL Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows 7th Feb
5 Mt. Gox Allegedly Loses $350 Million in Bitcoin, Rumoured Insolvent 25th Feb
6 List of Possible Silk Road Bitcoin Bidders Leaked by US Marshals 18th Jun
7 CoinDesk Removes Mt. Gox from Bitcoin Price Index 10th Feb
8 56% of Bitcoiners Believe the Bitcoin Price Will Reach $10k in 2014 2nd Jan
9 Leading Adult Site Porn.com Now Accepts Bitcoin 3rd Jan
10
Bitcoin Price Hits $135 on Mt. Gox Following Office Move and Verification
Demand
20th Feb
Sources and notes: CoinDesk. Based on total pageviews.
2014 Bitcoin Venture Capital Investment
10State of Bitcoin 2015
$433m$335m
Total VC investment in
cryptocurrency startups to date:
2014 bitcoin VC investment:
$96m
2013 bitcoin VC investment:
+342%
Increase in total to-date VC
investment from end of 2013:
Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
Two Biggest VC Deals in 2014
11State of Bitcoin 2015
$30m $30.5m
(Series A) October 2014(Series A) May 2014
Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
2014 Bitcoin VC Investment Surpassed
Early-Stage Internet Investment
12State of Bitcoin 2015
*Includes first sequence venture deals but excludes late-stage 1995 Internet investments ($257.6m). For additional disclosure
on methodology see www.coindesk.com/following-money-trends-bitcoin-venture-capital-investment/
$95.8
$334.8
$250.1
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
$300
$350
2013 Bitcoin 2014 Bitcoin 1995 Internet*
Bitcoin vs Early Internet VC Investment ($m)
Sources: CoinDesk, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Number of Countries With Bitcoin VC
Investment Grew From 8 to 18 in 2014
13State of Bitcoin 2015
New countries receiving investment for bitcoin companies in 2014: Japan, Netherlands, Panama,
Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, India, Mexico, Argentina
Countries
receiving
first VC
investment
in 2012-13
Countries
receiving
first VC
investment
in 2014
Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), generated by DataWrapper
2013 vs 2014 Investment Shift Towards
Wallets, Mining and Financial Services
14State of Bitcoin 2015
2013 vs 2014 VC Investment by Ecosystem Category
Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
$25.4
$26.7
$49.7
$69.5
$75.4
$88.1
$40.5
$24.0
$3.2
$12.1
$15.0
$1.1
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$50
$60
$70
$80
$90
$100
Universal Exchange Payment
Processor
Mining Financial
Services
Wallet
2014 VC Investment (millions) 2013 VC Investment (millions)
Companies Moving into New Product
Categories
15State of Bitcoin 2015
Wallet
Infrastructure
Jul 2013
+
Wallet + Exchange
Sep 2014
Payment
Processor
+ Infrastructure
Feb 2014
Exchange
Sep 2014
+
Source: CoinDesk
Mergers and Acquisitions Announced in
2014, More Expected in 2015
16State of Bitcoin 2015
Oct 2014
Aug 2014
Aug 2014
Jul 2014
Source: CoinDesk
Number of Universal Bitcoin Companies
Doubled in 2014
17State of Bitcoin 2015
• Universals operate across more than
one aspect of the bitcoin value chain
(eg Coinplug provides payment
processing, wallet and ATMs)
• More and more bitcoin startups
continue to pursue the universal
model
• Universal bitcoin companies leverage
two key elements of financial
services: efficiency and trust
The Universals
2013
2014
Total Altcoins Grew from 64 to 590 in 2014, Bitcoin’s
Market Cap is 6X Larger Than the Next Biggest
18State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinMarketCap data as of 3rd Jan 2015
Rank Name MarketCap
1 Bitcoin $ 4,132,670,815
2 Ripple $ 706,795,764
3 Litecoin $ 79,521,355
4 BitShares $ 38,420,086
5 PayCoin $ 35,959,731
6 MaidSafeCoin $ 23,917,169
7 Nxt $ 18,392,947
8 Stellar $ 17,713,142
9 Dogecoin $ 17,145,911
10 Peercoin $ 11,573,821
19State of Bitcoin 2015
Q4 2014
20State of Bitcoin 2015
Price and Valuation
CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index –
Q4 & YTD by the Numbers
21State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, daily data collected at 00:00 UTC
www.coindesk.com/price
$300
$325
$350
$375
$400
$425
$450
30-Sep 07-Oct 14-Oct 21-Oct 28-Oct 04-Nov 11-Nov 18-Nov 25-Nov 02-Dec 09-Dec 16-Dec 23-Dec 30-Dec
Bitcoin’s Price Fluctuated Throughout Q4 on
Mixed News
22State of Bitcoin 2015
11 Dec
Microsoft adds bitcoin
payments for Xbox
games and mobile
content
3 Oct
Russia proposes
monetary penalties
for bitcoin use and
promotion
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, daily data collected at 00:00 UTC www.coindesk.com/price
16 Oct
Bitcoin Group
seeks to launch
world's first
Bitcoin IPO
Boost VC goes
‘full bitcoin' for
next startup
mentor round
22 Nov
4 Dec
Daily bitcoin
transactions pass
100,000 milestone
10 Dec
Hacker returns
225 BTC taken
from Blockchain
wallets
18 Dec
Lawsky outlines
relaxation of New
York BitLicense
12 Nov
Bitcoin price
surges past $400
mark for the first
time since mid-
October
Monthly Exchange Trading Volume
Increased in Q4 …
23State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoinity
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
14,000,000
16,000,000
18,000,000
Monthly Bitcoin Trading Volume (bitcoins)
…and Recently Surpassed Previous Highs
From End of 2013
24State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoinity
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
14,000,000
16,000,000
18,000,000
Jan-13 Apr-13 Jul-13 Oct-13 Jan-14 Apr-14 Jul-14 Oct-14
Monthly Bitcoin Trading Volume (bitcoins)
State of Altcoins: Growth Rate of New Altcoins Slowed in Q4
by More Than 15%, Market Cap Share Steady at 9%*
25State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources: CoinMarketCap, Internet Archive
TotalNumberofAltcoins
*Altcoin market cap share calculated by dividing the sum of all non-bitcoin cryptocurrency market caps by all cryptocurrency market caps
(including bitcoin). For example, if altcoins have 8% market value share, then bitcoin has 92% market value share. Total number of altcoins
is the number at the end of each quarter.
64
216
347
483
590
68.4%
237.5%
60.6%
39.2%
22.2%
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Dec-13 Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14
Total Number of Altcoins
Quarterly Growth in New
Altcoins
26State of Bitcoin 2015
Media
Selection of Q4’s Biggest Bitcoin Stories
27State of Bitcoin 2015
White-hat hacker exploits security flaw in
Blockchain wallets to take 255 BTC
Microsoft is now the most notable business on
the list of bitcoin-accepting businesses
Overstock significantly misses 2014
bitcoin sales projections
Bitcoin
network
difficulty
declined for
first time in
two years
Most Popular CoinDesk Q4 Stories
28State of Bitcoin 2015
Rank Title Date
1 Bitcoin Price Finds Hard Floor Following 26,000 BTC Sell Order 6th Oct
2 Bitcoin Price Surges Past $400 Mark 12th Nov
3 State of Bitcoin Q3 2014: Ecosystem Maturing Amid Price Pressure 7th Oct
4 MIT Bitcoin Trading Simulation Yields Profit of 89% in 50 Days 14th Oct
5 Microsoft Adds Bitcoin Payments for Xbox Games and Mobile Content 11th Dec
6 Fire Destroys Thai Bitcoin Mining Facility 6th Nov
7 Gavin Andresen Proposes Bitcoin Hard Fork to Address Network Scalability 8th Oct
8 Markets Weekly: Bitcoin Price Resilience Crumbles 27th Oct
9 Why Wall Streeters are Turning to Bitcoin for a Living 26th Oct
10 Markets Weekly: Bitcoin Bulls Return in Wake of BearWhale Slaying 13th Oct
Source: CoinDesk
News Coverage of Bitcoin Declined on Most
Mainstream News Sites in Q4
29State of Bitcoin 2015
News Published Mentioning Bitcoin
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
FT
NYT
WSJ
Sina
Q3 2014
Q4 2014
Note: Numbers of stories obtained by searching ‘bitcoin’ on respective publishers’ websites
Sources: respective publishers’ websites
‘Bitcoin Price’ is Top Q4 Search Term,
‘Bitcoin Bowl’ Achieved High Share
30State of Bitcoin 2015
Past 90
Days
Related Searches: Top Related Searches: Rising
Past 12 Months
Source: Google Trends data as of 3rd Jan 2015
31State of Bitcoin 2015
VC Investment
Two Biggest Bitcoin VC Deals in Q4
32State of Bitcoin 2015
$30.5m $21m
(Series A) November 2014(Series A) October 2014
Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
Q4 Bitcoin Venture Capital Investment Nearly
Doubled Q3 Total
33State of Bitcoin 2015
$433m$130m
Total VC investment in
cryptocurrency startups to date:
Q4 2014 bitcoin VC investment:
$64m
Q3 2014 bitcoin VC investment:
Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase
+43%
Increase in total to-date VC
investment from end of Q3:
Europe Continues to Heat Up as Overall Investment Share
Increased in Q4, Largest Regional Q/Q% Increase
34State of Bitcoin 2015
Regions
Q4
($m)
Q3
($m)
Q/Q Δ
($m)
Q/Q Δ
US &
Canada
285.4 215.8 69.6 32%
Europe 99.2 48.7 50.5 104%
Asia 31.0 26.9 4.1 15%
Middle
East
10.5 5.5 5.0 91%
Latin
America
6.0 6.0 0.0 0%
Total 430.5 303.5 127.4 42%
$ Invested as of Q3
• Middle East had the second largest Q/Q% increase in investment
• US & Canada share declined slightly, but still dominated with 66% of all VC $
to date Note: $ invested represents all-time total bitcoin VC investment at the end of each respective quarter. The
headquarters of one company receiving VC investment in Q4 is unknown.
Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase
$ Invested as of Q4
US &
Canada
71%
Europe
16%
Asia
9%
Middle
East
2%
Latin
America
2%
US &
Canada
66%
Europe
23%
Asia
7%
Middle
East
3%
Latin
America
1%
While the US Continues to Dominate Bitcoin VC
Investment, Total Share Declined by 11% in Q4
35State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase
$0.2 $0.3 $0.3 $0.3 $0.5 $0.6 $0.8 $1.2 $1.8 $3.4 $4.0 $6.9 $10.5 $14.9 $18.1
$25.0
$40.7 $42.9
$260.4
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
$300
Total Funding (millions)
Silicon Valley’s Share of All-Time Bitcoin VC Investment
Declined Slightly From 29% in Q3 to 27% in Q4
36State of Bitcoin 2015
Tech hub
concentration
Value ($m)
No. of
companies
Silicon Valley 116.4 15
Rest of World 316.3 68
Total 432.7 83
• Total number of VC-backed bitcoin companies increased from 68 in Q3 to 83
in Q4, a 22% increase
$ Invested No. of Companies
Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase
Silicon
Valley
27%
Rest of
World
73%
Silicon
Valley
18%
Rest of
World
82%
The Bitcoin Startup Ecosystem:
Six Different Bitcoin Company Categories
37State of Bitcoin 2015
Universal
Payment
Processing
Wallets
Mining
Financial
Services
Exchanges
Wallets Raised the Most Funding in Q4,
Followed by Mining and Financial Services
38State of Bitcoin 2015
Q4 VC Investment by Ecosystem Category (millions)
Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase
$2.7 $2.7
$16.0
$33.6
$34.8
$40.0
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
$40
$45
Universal
Exchange
Payment Processor
Mining
Financial Services
Wallet
Financial Services Took Over Universal, Receiving
the Most VC Investment
39State of Bitcoin 2015
• Wallets, Financial Services and Mining sectors continued to receive the lion’s share
of investment in Q4
• Universals only received $2.7m in last quarter
$ Invested as of Q3$ Invested as of Q4
Note: $ invested represents all-time total bitcoin VC investment at the end of each respective quarter.
Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase
Universal
15%
Financial
Services
21%
Mining
19%
Wallet
21%
Exchange
12%
Payment
Processor
12% Universal
21%
Financial
Services
18%
Mining
16%
Wallet
16%
Exchange
16%
Payment
Processor
13%
Sector
Q4
($m)
Q3
($m)
Q/Q Δ
($m)
Q/Q Δ
Universal 66.5 63.8 2.7 4%
Financial
Services
90.4 55.6 34.8 62%
Mining 81.6 48.0 33.6 70%
Wallet 89.2 49.2 40.0 81%
Exchange 50.7 48.0 2.7 6%
Payment
Processor
54.3 38.3 16.0 42%
Total 432.7 302.9 129.8 43%
Q4 Investment Rounds in Bitcoin Startups
40State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk (http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
Close Date Company Size ($m) Round Select Investors Headquartered
Dec-14 Bitreserve 9.5 Second Undisclosed San Francisco
Dec-14 BitGold 3.5 Third
PowerOne Capital, Soros Brothers
Investments, Sandstorm Gold
Toronto
Dec-14 PeerNova 8.6 First
Mosaik Partners, Steve Case,
Crypto Currency Partners
San Jose
Dec-14 ChangeTip 3.5 First
Pantera Capital, 500 Startups,
Boldstart Ventures, CryptoCurrency
Partners
San Francisco
Dec-14 DigiByte 0.25 Seed Undisclosed Santa Monica
Dec-14 GetGems 0.6 Seed Magma VC Unknown
Nov-14 Purse.io 0.3 Seed
Roger Ver, Bobby Lee, Terrence
Yang, FundersClub, StrongVC
San Francisco
Nov-14 Blockstream 21 First
Reid Hoffman, Khosla Ventures,
Real Ventures, Crypto Currency
Partners
Montreal
Q4 Investment Rounds in Bitcoin Startups
(contd.)
41State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk (http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
Close Date Company Size ($m) Round Select Investors Headquartered
Nov-14 Dogetipbot 0.45 Seed
Blackbird Ventures, Scott and Cyan
Banister, Individual Investors
Redding
Nov-14 CoinOutlet 0.05 Seed BitcoinShop New York
Oct-14
Spondoolies-
Tech
5 Second
Agile Wings, BRM Group, Genesis
Partners, Olivier Janssens
Kiryat Gat
Oct-14 BitLendingClub 0.25 Seed LAUNCHub San Francisco
Oct-14 Bitnet 14.5 First
Highland Capital Partners,
Rakuten, James Pallotta, Stuart
Peterson
San Francisco
Oct-14 AlphaPoint 1.35 Seed
Ben Franklin Technology Partners,
Robin Hood Ventures
New York
Oct-14 Coinsetter 1.3 First Unknown New York
Oct-14 BitFlyer 0.24 Seed Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. Tokyo
Q4 Investment Rounds in Bitcoin Startups
(contd.)
42State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk (http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
Close Date Company Size ($m) Round Select Investors Headquartered
Oct-14 Libra 0.5 Seed
Liberty City Ventures, James
Pallotta, Ben Davenport
San Francisco
Oct-14 Melotic 1.18 Seed
Ceyuan Ventures, Lightspeed
China, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp
Hong Kong
Oct-14 Devign Lab 0.2 Seed K Cube Ventures Seoul
Oct-14 BitFury 20 Second
Bill Tai, Bob Dykes, Georgian Co-
Investment Fund, Lars Rasmussen
Amsterdam
Oct-14 Coinplug 2.5 First
Mirae Asset Venture Investment,
Bokwang Investment Corp
Seoul
Oct-14 Blockchain 30.5 First
Lightspeed Ventures, Wicklow
Capital, Mosaic Ventures
York
Oct-14 SolidX 3 First
Liberty City Ventures, James
Pallotta
New York
Oct-14 Snapcard 1.5 Seed
Tim Draper, Crypto Currency
Partners, Insikt Ventures
San Francisco
43State of Bitcoin 2015
Commerce
>82,000 Merchants Now Accept Bitcoin,
Up From 75,000 in Q3 (+9%)
44State of Bitcoin 2015
44K 38K
Sources: Coinbase and BitPay
Total merchants Forecasted merchants
140,000 Bitcoin-Accepting Merchants
Forecast by End of 2015
45State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources and notes: total current merchants based on data from Coinbase and BitPay. Historical Coinbase data provided by BitcoinPulse.
BitPay historical data between new merchant press release announcements of 10,000 (16th Sep 2013), 20,000 (13th Jan 2014) and 30,000
(28th May 2014), respectively, calculated using linear interpolation.
R² = 0.962
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
Growth in Bitcoin-Accepting Businesses
Slowed Throughout 2014
46State of Bitcoin 2015
Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoinity
13,903
16,800
12,936
10,360
6,000
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014
Number of New Bitcoin-Accepting Businesses Added Each Quarter
Companies Representing >$180 Billion in
Annual Revenue Now Accept Bitcoin
47State of Bitcoin 2015
Top 10 Largest Bitcoin-Accepting Retailers
*Monprix is a private company; most recent revenue data is from 2005. TigerDirect estimate provided by parent company investor relations. Other divisions
that are part of a larger parent organization, but do not break out individual divisional revenues, are excluded.
Rank Company Annual Revenue ($bn)
1 Microsoft 86.8
2 Dell 56.9
3 Dish Network 13.9
4 Expedia 5.0
5 Intuit 4.5
6 Monprix* 4.3
7 Time Inc.** 3.4
8 NewEgg 2.8
9 Overstock 1.3
10 TigerDirect* 1.0
Total $179.9
**The revenue is Time Inc. FY 2013 revenue
Sources: CoinDesk, Coinbase, BitPay, companies’ annual reports
What Do People Buy with Bitcoins?
Home Goods & Consumer Electronics
48State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: most popular items purchased through Purse.io by November 2014
Trashbags Coffee Grinder Infant Formula
Home
Goods
Bluetooth SpeakerDigital CameraPlaystation
Consumer
Electronics
Total Wallets Forecasted Wallets
Approximately 12 Million Bitcoin Wallets
Forecast by End of 2015
49State of Bitcoin 2015
R2 = 0.971
Sources and notes: total wallets based on data from Blockchain.info, MultiBit, Coinbase, Andreas Schildbach (Android Bitcoin Wallet
developer). Historical Coinbase data provided by BitcoinPulse.
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
14,000,000
Jan-13
Mar-13
May-13
Jul-13
Sep-13
Nov-13
Jan-14
Mar-14
May-14
Jul-14
Sep-14
Nov-14
Jan-15
Mar-15
May-15
Jul-15
Sep-15
Nov-15
Jan-16
Daily Bitcoin Transactions Passed
100,000 for the First Time in Q4
50State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: Blockchain.info
• Questions linger over how significant a milestone this is, given uncertainty over
how many of these transactions represent bona fide economic activities
Now Over 320 Bitcoin ATMs
Around the World
51State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-atm-map/)
1213246
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Oct-13 Jan-14 Apr-14 Jul-14 Oct-14 Jan-15 Apr-15 Jul-15 Oct-15 Jan-16
Total ATMs Forecasted
ATMs
Approximately 750 Bitcoin ATMs Forecast by
End of 2015
52State of Bitcoin 2015
R2 = 0.973
Sources: CoinDesk, CoinATMRadar
Lamassu Led ATM Deployments in 2014,
Skyhook Became Second Largest
53State of Bitcoin 2015
Lamassu
accounts
for over a
third of the
bitcoin ATM
market
Sources: CoinDesk, CoinATMRadar
Most Bitcoin ATMs Located in Stores,
Restaurants and Coffee Shops
54State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk, www.coindesk.com/6-charts-show-massive-bitcoin-atm-growth-2014/
55State of Bitcoin 2015
Technology
0
5,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
15,000,000,000
20,000,000,000
25,000,000,000
30,000,000,000
35,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
45,000,000,000
Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14
Bitcoin Network Difficulty Declined for First
Time in Two Years
56State of Bitcoin 2015
The drop in difficulty was
expected due to depressed
bitcoin prices*
*CoinDesk examined the issue in September 2014 and concluded that difficulty could reverse if prices do not recover www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining-
can-longer-ignore-moores-law/
Source: CoinDesk
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty
Discus Fish
AntPool
GHash.IO
KnCMiner
BTCChina Pool
BTC Guild
Slush
Unknown with
1AcAj9p Address
Eligius
P2Pool
Bitcoin Affiliate
Network
Unknown
with
1BwZeHJ
Address
BitMinter
Megabigpower
MegaBigPower
EclipseMC
mmpool
Polmine
CloudHashing
Unknown
Mining Pools: GHash Continues to Shrink,
No Permanent Solution for 51% Attack Risk Yet
57State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: 4-day average as of 3rd Jan 2015 blockchain.info/pools
CoinBase’s API Gaining Traction With
44 Bitcoin Apps Built on it
58State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinBase
Bitcoin Developer Ecosystem Continues to Grow
59State of Bitcoin 2015
Number of created repositories in GitHub with bitcoin in the name or description
Source: BitcoinPulse
Number of Bitcoin Nodes Has Leveled Off in
Last Two Quarters
60State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: BitcoinPulse
Crypto 2.0 Projects to Keep an Eye on
in 2015
61State of Bitcoin 2015
BitAssets – allowing traders to hedge
against bitcoin's fluctuations
Alternative blockchain to bitcoin’s
Decentralised social messenger
Bringing smart contracts to market
Source: CoinDesk
Bitcoin Companies are Collaborating on
Security Across Industry Sectors
62State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk
Adoption of Multi-signature (Multisig) Wallet
Security Increased in 2014
63State of Bitcoin 2015
• Multisig: advertised as the digital equivalent of a safe deposit box.
• At the beginning of 2014, only 0.02% of all bitcoins featured multisig
security, that number is now more than 5%.
• These companies now utilize multisig:
Source: BitGo
64State of Bitcoin 2015
Regulation and Macro
Over 250 Academic Articles on Bitcoin to Date
Cover a Wide Range of Research Topics
65State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: Peer-to-Peer Review: The State of Academic Bitcoin Research 2014 by Brett Scott.
Word Cloud of 250 article titles generated using Tagul.
A Number of Countries Expressing Interest
in Regulating Bitcoin as a Commodity
66State of Bitcoin 2015
• US Commodities Futures and Trading Commission said it had oversight over
bitcoin and digital currencies because they could be defined as a commodity.
• Bitcoin has been classified as a commodity in Finland after the Scandinavian
country’s central bank declared that it did not meet the definition of a currency.
• Grant Spencer, deputy governor of New Zealand's Reserve Bank, said bitcoin
"behaves more like a commodity than a currency”.
Source: CoinDesk
Some Positive Developments with
New York’s BitLicense Regulatory Framework
67State of Bitcoin 2015
• New York’s BitLicense regulatory proposal
widely regarded as a possible framework for
other jurisdictions.
• Ben Lawsky announced the latest revisions
to the draft BitLicense in mid-December.
• Clarified and narrowed which players in the
digital currency industry would be required to
obtain a BitLicense.
• Fewer disclosure and record-keeping
requirements for transactions.
• The proposed record-keeping
requirement for licensees reduced from 10 to
seven years.
• Broader range of financial assets (that
includes virtual currency) that can be
counted towards licensees' capital
requirements.
Ben Lawsky
Source: CoinDesk
Some Bitcoin Firms are Making Progress
with Banking Relationships
68State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk
Safello first to
partner with UK
bank
Unisend re-
established
partnership with
a state bank
UK Banks
Russia is Illustrative of the Topsy-Turvy
Nature of Bitcoin Regulation
69State of Bitcoin 2015
3 Oct
Russia proposes
monetary penalty
for bitcoin usage
and promotion
4 Dec
Russian
conference
presses on under
threat of bitcoin
ban
10 Nov
Russia lowers
proposed
penalties for
bitcoin activities
29 Dec
Russian
ministry
criticises draft
bill banning
bitcoin
9 Oct
Russia's startups
seek refuge
abroad under threat
of bitcoin ban
6 Oct
Russia seizes
bitcoin mining
equipment in incident
at China border
Source: CoinDesk
Highlights for bitcoin in 2014
• 25% mention more merchants’ acceptance, VC investment and
technology improvement
Biggest setback for bitcoin in 2014
• 33% mention price drop and Mt Gox’s collapse
What to look forward to for bitcoin in 2015
• 83% expect bitcoin VC funding to surpass investment in 2014
• 54% indicate US and Argentina are likely to see greater relative
adoption of bitcoin
• 42% mention security development as a focus
• 33% mention bitcoin seeing more traction in emerging markets
Highlights from Bitcoin Thought
Leaders Survey
70State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey (an informal survey sent to a small number of bitcoin community influencers)
Views on the Highs and Lows for
Bitcoin in 2014
71State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey
Tyson Cross, tax attorney
“From a tax prospective,
the biggest setback for
bitcoin in 2014 was its
classification as ‘property’
instead of ‘foreign
currency’.”
Brett Scott, author
“I'm pleased that people
began to discuss non-
monetary uses of
blockchain technology
more during 2014.”
Ola Doudin, BitOasis &
YellowPay
“I think 2014 was a
positive year (for bitcoin) in
Middle East where you
see more startups
launching, more eager and
serious players in the
space, and more
consumer awareness.”
Views On What Lies Ahead for Bitcoin
Regulation and Price Volatility in 2015
72State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey
Ivan Brightly, SolidX
Partners
“In 2015, I expect that the
marginal buyers are
hedge funds, family
offices, high net worth
individuals and the like.”
Izabella Kaminska,
Financial Times
“Regulation is an
existential threat for
bitcoin because it can only
compete effectively if it
remains an unregulated
asset class.”
Gil Luria, Wedbush
Securities
“Volatility is part of the
currency and is unlikely to
go away.”
Views On What Lies Ahead for Bitcoin
Regulation and Price Volatility in 2015
73State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey
Will O’Brien, BitGo
“I believe there will be continued
adoption by top merchants and
we may see the first adoption by
a mainstream consumer
payment network.”
David Yermack, NYU Professor of
Finance
“I believe bitcoin commerce will
become increasingly concentrated
online. Accepting bitcoin makes little
sense for face-to-face transactions
with ordinary merchants due to the
delays in validation.”
Views on Bitcoin
74State of Bitcoin 2015
Jon Matonis
Founding Director
Bitcoin Foundation
Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey
Factoring in Remittance Fees Makes Sub-
Saharan Africa Most Fertile Market for Bitcoin …
75State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: Hileman (2014) ‘Bitcoin Market Potential Index’, London School of Economics working paper.
Announcement article: www.coindesk.com/argentina-most-likely-adopt-bitcoin/
BMPI Regional Distribution -
Top 30
BMPI Regional Distribution -
Top 10
Asia 0%
Europe
10%
Middle East
& North
Africa 10%
Latin
America
20%
US &
Canada
10%
Sub-
Saharan
Africa 40%
Post-
Soviet/Com
munist 10% Asia
7%
Europe 3%
Middle East
& North
Africa 13%
Latin
America
17%
US &
Canada 3%
Sub-
Saharan
Africa 40%
Post-
Soviet/Com
munist 17%
… Yet Bitcoin Regulation in Africa
Lags Behind the Rest of the World
76State of Bitcoin 2015
Source: Wikipedia https://team.cartodb.com/u/andrew/viz/365aa620-c273-11e4-bac7-0e018d66dc29/embed_map
About CoinDesk
• Find out more at www.coindesk.com
• Follow us on Twitter: @CoinDesk
• Subscribe to our daily email newsletters for the latest digital currency news
• If you have data you think should be included in future State of Bitcoin
reports, email stateofbitcoin@coindesk.com
• We also welcome any feedback you have on the report
77State of Bitcoin 2015
Disclaimer
• CoinDesk makes every effort to ensure that the information in this
presentation is accurate and up to date. We cannot, however, accept
responsibility for any loss or inconvenience caused by reliance on the
material contained here.
• This presentation does not constitute financial advice or an investment
recommendation in any way whatsoever. It is recommended that you
perform your own independent research and/or speak with a qualified
investment professional before making any financial decisions.
78State of Bitcoin 2015

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State of Bitcoin 2015

  • 1. State of Bitcoin 2015 7th January 2015
  • 2. Contents 1. 2014 in Review 1. Q4 Summary • Price and Valuation • Media • VC Investment • Commerce • Technology • Regulation and Macro 2State of Bitcoin 2015
  • 3. About CoinDesk • World leader in digital currency news, prices and information • The Bitcoin Price Index serves as an industry reference point • International team headquartered in London • Editors based in London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo 3State of Bitcoin 2015
  • 4. 4State of Bitcoin 2015 2014 in Review
  • 5. Summary 5State of Bitcoin 2015 Sustained price pressure may lead to a shakeout in the mining sector and likely consolidation among exchanges Overall, 2014 was a ‘tale of two bitcoins’ – the bitcoin economy made progress while bitcoin’s price saw a steady decline All-time bitcoin VC investment passed $400m in Q4 and exceeded early- stage Internet investment in 1995 Q4 saw some regulatory clarity with welcomed revisions to the NY BitLicense and no new major regulatory setbacks Larger businesses continue to adopt bitcoin, with Microsoft and Time accepting bitcoin in Q4 Bitcoin was the worst-performing currency in 2014, down 67% and another 18% so far in 2015
  • 6. Key Bitcoin Adoption Metrics 6State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources and notes: CoinDesk, Blockchain.info, BitcoinPulse, Github, Coin ATM Radar. Figures are cumulative from start of records, except unique bitcoin addresses and media mentions, which are figures for the quarter ending that month. Quarterly Last 12 Months Dec-14 Sep-14 Q/Q Δ Dec-13 Δ Commerce Wallets 7,948,272 6,559,978 21% 3,194,584 2x Merchants 82,000 76,000 8% 35,903 2x Merchants’ annual revenue ($bn) 180 86 109% 0 N/A ATMs 341 251 36% 4 85x Unique bitcoin addresses 157,377 184,554 -15% 108,166 45% Industry All-time VC investment ($m) 432.7 302.9 43% 97.9 4x Number of VC-backed startups 83 68 22% 30 3x Media Mainstream media mentions 673 687 -2% 2,889 -76% Technology Network hash rate (billion/second) 335,365,290 249,839,180 34% 9,920,977 34x Github no. of updated repositories 23,249 18,753 24% 4,410 5x Valuation Bitcoin market capitalization ($bn) 4.3 5.2 -17% 9.3 -54%
  • 7. $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1,000 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 11 Apr PBOC official says China will not ban bitcoin 11 Aug Blockchain first company to pass over 2m bitcoin wallets 11 Dec Microsoft adds bitcoin payments for Xbox games and mobile content Key Events and Price Chart in 2014 7State of Bitcoin 2015 23 Sep PayPal announces bitcoin partnerships 11 Feb Massive DDoS attack exploits transaction malleability bug Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, daily data collected at 00:00 UTC www.coindesk.com/price 18 Jul Dell announces it will accept bitcoin 18 Dec Favorable revisions made to proposed NY BitLicense 18 Jun List of possible Silk Road bitcoin bidders leaked by US Marshals 6 Mar Newsweek claims to have found bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto 25 Feb Mt Gox closes, announces 744,408 BTC ($350m) missing 12 Jun $18m in Silk Road bitcoins sold by US Government 2 Jul VC Tim Draper revealed as Silk Road bitcoin auction winner
  • 8. Total Exchange Trading Volume Increased by Over 50% 8State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources: CoinDesk, Blockchain.info, Bitcoinity Total Bitcoin Trading Volume (BTC) 51 80 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2013 2014 Millions $15 $23 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 2013 2014 Billions Total Bitcoin Trading Volume ($bn)
  • 9. CoinDesk's Top 10 News Stories of 2014 9State of Bitcoin 2015 Rank Title Date 1 Bitcoin Exchanges Under 'Massive and Concerted Attack' 11th Feb 2 Why Mt. Gox, the World’s First Bitcoin Exchange, is Dying 8th Feb 3 Alpha Technology Takes Pre-Orders for Litecoin ASIC Miners 3rd Jan 4 Mt. Gox Halts ALL Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows 7th Feb 5 Mt. Gox Allegedly Loses $350 Million in Bitcoin, Rumoured Insolvent 25th Feb 6 List of Possible Silk Road Bitcoin Bidders Leaked by US Marshals 18th Jun 7 CoinDesk Removes Mt. Gox from Bitcoin Price Index 10th Feb 8 56% of Bitcoiners Believe the Bitcoin Price Will Reach $10k in 2014 2nd Jan 9 Leading Adult Site Porn.com Now Accepts Bitcoin 3rd Jan 10 Bitcoin Price Hits $135 on Mt. Gox Following Office Move and Verification Demand 20th Feb Sources and notes: CoinDesk. Based on total pageviews.
  • 10. 2014 Bitcoin Venture Capital Investment 10State of Bitcoin 2015 $433m$335m Total VC investment in cryptocurrency startups to date: 2014 bitcoin VC investment: $96m 2013 bitcoin VC investment: +342% Increase in total to-date VC investment from end of 2013: Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
  • 11. Two Biggest VC Deals in 2014 11State of Bitcoin 2015 $30m $30.5m (Series A) October 2014(Series A) May 2014 Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
  • 12. 2014 Bitcoin VC Investment Surpassed Early-Stage Internet Investment 12State of Bitcoin 2015 *Includes first sequence venture deals but excludes late-stage 1995 Internet investments ($257.6m). For additional disclosure on methodology see www.coindesk.com/following-money-trends-bitcoin-venture-capital-investment/ $95.8 $334.8 $250.1 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 $350 2013 Bitcoin 2014 Bitcoin 1995 Internet* Bitcoin vs Early Internet VC Investment ($m) Sources: CoinDesk, PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • 13. Number of Countries With Bitcoin VC Investment Grew From 8 to 18 in 2014 13State of Bitcoin 2015 New countries receiving investment for bitcoin companies in 2014: Japan, Netherlands, Panama, Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, India, Mexico, Argentina Countries receiving first VC investment in 2012-13 Countries receiving first VC investment in 2014 Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), generated by DataWrapper
  • 14. 2013 vs 2014 Investment Shift Towards Wallets, Mining and Financial Services 14State of Bitcoin 2015 2013 vs 2014 VC Investment by Ecosystem Category Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/) $25.4 $26.7 $49.7 $69.5 $75.4 $88.1 $40.5 $24.0 $3.2 $12.1 $15.0 $1.1 $0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80 $90 $100 Universal Exchange Payment Processor Mining Financial Services Wallet 2014 VC Investment (millions) 2013 VC Investment (millions)
  • 15. Companies Moving into New Product Categories 15State of Bitcoin 2015 Wallet Infrastructure Jul 2013 + Wallet + Exchange Sep 2014 Payment Processor + Infrastructure Feb 2014 Exchange Sep 2014 + Source: CoinDesk
  • 16. Mergers and Acquisitions Announced in 2014, More Expected in 2015 16State of Bitcoin 2015 Oct 2014 Aug 2014 Aug 2014 Jul 2014 Source: CoinDesk
  • 17. Number of Universal Bitcoin Companies Doubled in 2014 17State of Bitcoin 2015 • Universals operate across more than one aspect of the bitcoin value chain (eg Coinplug provides payment processing, wallet and ATMs) • More and more bitcoin startups continue to pursue the universal model • Universal bitcoin companies leverage two key elements of financial services: efficiency and trust The Universals 2013 2014
  • 18. Total Altcoins Grew from 64 to 590 in 2014, Bitcoin’s Market Cap is 6X Larger Than the Next Biggest 18State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinMarketCap data as of 3rd Jan 2015 Rank Name MarketCap 1 Bitcoin $ 4,132,670,815 2 Ripple $ 706,795,764 3 Litecoin $ 79,521,355 4 BitShares $ 38,420,086 5 PayCoin $ 35,959,731 6 MaidSafeCoin $ 23,917,169 7 Nxt $ 18,392,947 8 Stellar $ 17,713,142 9 Dogecoin $ 17,145,911 10 Peercoin $ 11,573,821
  • 19. 19State of Bitcoin 2015 Q4 2014
  • 20. 20State of Bitcoin 2015 Price and Valuation
  • 21. CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index – Q4 & YTD by the Numbers 21State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, daily data collected at 00:00 UTC www.coindesk.com/price
  • 22. $300 $325 $350 $375 $400 $425 $450 30-Sep 07-Oct 14-Oct 21-Oct 28-Oct 04-Nov 11-Nov 18-Nov 25-Nov 02-Dec 09-Dec 16-Dec 23-Dec 30-Dec Bitcoin’s Price Fluctuated Throughout Q4 on Mixed News 22State of Bitcoin 2015 11 Dec Microsoft adds bitcoin payments for Xbox games and mobile content 3 Oct Russia proposes monetary penalties for bitcoin use and promotion Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, daily data collected at 00:00 UTC www.coindesk.com/price 16 Oct Bitcoin Group seeks to launch world's first Bitcoin IPO Boost VC goes ‘full bitcoin' for next startup mentor round 22 Nov 4 Dec Daily bitcoin transactions pass 100,000 milestone 10 Dec Hacker returns 225 BTC taken from Blockchain wallets 18 Dec Lawsky outlines relaxation of New York BitLicense 12 Nov Bitcoin price surges past $400 mark for the first time since mid- October
  • 23. Monthly Exchange Trading Volume Increased in Q4 … 23State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoinity 0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 14,000,000 16,000,000 18,000,000 Monthly Bitcoin Trading Volume (bitcoins)
  • 24. …and Recently Surpassed Previous Highs From End of 2013 24State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoinity 0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 14,000,000 16,000,000 18,000,000 Jan-13 Apr-13 Jul-13 Oct-13 Jan-14 Apr-14 Jul-14 Oct-14 Monthly Bitcoin Trading Volume (bitcoins)
  • 25. State of Altcoins: Growth Rate of New Altcoins Slowed in Q4 by More Than 15%, Market Cap Share Steady at 9%* 25State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources: CoinMarketCap, Internet Archive TotalNumberofAltcoins *Altcoin market cap share calculated by dividing the sum of all non-bitcoin cryptocurrency market caps by all cryptocurrency market caps (including bitcoin). For example, if altcoins have 8% market value share, then bitcoin has 92% market value share. Total number of altcoins is the number at the end of each quarter. 64 216 347 483 590 68.4% 237.5% 60.6% 39.2% 22.2% 0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250% 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Dec-13 Mar-14 Jun-14 Sep-14 Dec-14 Total Number of Altcoins Quarterly Growth in New Altcoins
  • 26. 26State of Bitcoin 2015 Media
  • 27. Selection of Q4’s Biggest Bitcoin Stories 27State of Bitcoin 2015 White-hat hacker exploits security flaw in Blockchain wallets to take 255 BTC Microsoft is now the most notable business on the list of bitcoin-accepting businesses Overstock significantly misses 2014 bitcoin sales projections Bitcoin network difficulty declined for first time in two years
  • 28. Most Popular CoinDesk Q4 Stories 28State of Bitcoin 2015 Rank Title Date 1 Bitcoin Price Finds Hard Floor Following 26,000 BTC Sell Order 6th Oct 2 Bitcoin Price Surges Past $400 Mark 12th Nov 3 State of Bitcoin Q3 2014: Ecosystem Maturing Amid Price Pressure 7th Oct 4 MIT Bitcoin Trading Simulation Yields Profit of 89% in 50 Days 14th Oct 5 Microsoft Adds Bitcoin Payments for Xbox Games and Mobile Content 11th Dec 6 Fire Destroys Thai Bitcoin Mining Facility 6th Nov 7 Gavin Andresen Proposes Bitcoin Hard Fork to Address Network Scalability 8th Oct 8 Markets Weekly: Bitcoin Price Resilience Crumbles 27th Oct 9 Why Wall Streeters are Turning to Bitcoin for a Living 26th Oct 10 Markets Weekly: Bitcoin Bulls Return in Wake of BearWhale Slaying 13th Oct Source: CoinDesk
  • 29. News Coverage of Bitcoin Declined on Most Mainstream News Sites in Q4 29State of Bitcoin 2015 News Published Mentioning Bitcoin 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 FT NYT WSJ Sina Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Note: Numbers of stories obtained by searching ‘bitcoin’ on respective publishers’ websites Sources: respective publishers’ websites
  • 30. ‘Bitcoin Price’ is Top Q4 Search Term, ‘Bitcoin Bowl’ Achieved High Share 30State of Bitcoin 2015 Past 90 Days Related Searches: Top Related Searches: Rising Past 12 Months Source: Google Trends data as of 3rd Jan 2015
  • 31. 31State of Bitcoin 2015 VC Investment
  • 32. Two Biggest Bitcoin VC Deals in Q4 32State of Bitcoin 2015 $30.5m $21m (Series A) November 2014(Series A) October 2014 Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/)
  • 33. Q4 Bitcoin Venture Capital Investment Nearly Doubled Q3 Total 33State of Bitcoin 2015 $433m$130m Total VC investment in cryptocurrency startups to date: Q4 2014 bitcoin VC investment: $64m Q3 2014 bitcoin VC investment: Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase +43% Increase in total to-date VC investment from end of Q3:
  • 34. Europe Continues to Heat Up as Overall Investment Share Increased in Q4, Largest Regional Q/Q% Increase 34State of Bitcoin 2015 Regions Q4 ($m) Q3 ($m) Q/Q Δ ($m) Q/Q Δ US & Canada 285.4 215.8 69.6 32% Europe 99.2 48.7 50.5 104% Asia 31.0 26.9 4.1 15% Middle East 10.5 5.5 5.0 91% Latin America 6.0 6.0 0.0 0% Total 430.5 303.5 127.4 42% $ Invested as of Q3 • Middle East had the second largest Q/Q% increase in investment • US & Canada share declined slightly, but still dominated with 66% of all VC $ to date Note: $ invested represents all-time total bitcoin VC investment at the end of each respective quarter. The headquarters of one company receiving VC investment in Q4 is unknown. Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase $ Invested as of Q4 US & Canada 71% Europe 16% Asia 9% Middle East 2% Latin America 2% US & Canada 66% Europe 23% Asia 7% Middle East 3% Latin America 1%
  • 35. While the US Continues to Dominate Bitcoin VC Investment, Total Share Declined by 11% in Q4 35State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase $0.2 $0.3 $0.3 $0.3 $0.5 $0.6 $0.8 $1.2 $1.8 $3.4 $4.0 $6.9 $10.5 $14.9 $18.1 $25.0 $40.7 $42.9 $260.4 $0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 Total Funding (millions)
  • 36. Silicon Valley’s Share of All-Time Bitcoin VC Investment Declined Slightly From 29% in Q3 to 27% in Q4 36State of Bitcoin 2015 Tech hub concentration Value ($m) No. of companies Silicon Valley 116.4 15 Rest of World 316.3 68 Total 432.7 83 • Total number of VC-backed bitcoin companies increased from 68 in Q3 to 83 in Q4, a 22% increase $ Invested No. of Companies Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase Silicon Valley 27% Rest of World 73% Silicon Valley 18% Rest of World 82%
  • 37. The Bitcoin Startup Ecosystem: Six Different Bitcoin Company Categories 37State of Bitcoin 2015 Universal Payment Processing Wallets Mining Financial Services Exchanges
  • 38. Wallets Raised the Most Funding in Q4, Followed by Mining and Financial Services 38State of Bitcoin 2015 Q4 VC Investment by Ecosystem Category (millions) Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase $2.7 $2.7 $16.0 $33.6 $34.8 $40.0 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 $40 $45 Universal Exchange Payment Processor Mining Financial Services Wallet
  • 39. Financial Services Took Over Universal, Receiving the Most VC Investment 39State of Bitcoin 2015 • Wallets, Financial Services and Mining sectors continued to receive the lion’s share of investment in Q4 • Universals only received $2.7m in last quarter $ Invested as of Q3$ Invested as of Q4 Note: $ invested represents all-time total bitcoin VC investment at the end of each respective quarter. Sources: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/), CrunchBase Universal 15% Financial Services 21% Mining 19% Wallet 21% Exchange 12% Payment Processor 12% Universal 21% Financial Services 18% Mining 16% Wallet 16% Exchange 16% Payment Processor 13% Sector Q4 ($m) Q3 ($m) Q/Q Δ ($m) Q/Q Δ Universal 66.5 63.8 2.7 4% Financial Services 90.4 55.6 34.8 62% Mining 81.6 48.0 33.6 70% Wallet 89.2 49.2 40.0 81% Exchange 50.7 48.0 2.7 6% Payment Processor 54.3 38.3 16.0 42% Total 432.7 302.9 129.8 43%
  • 40. Q4 Investment Rounds in Bitcoin Startups 40State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk (http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/) Close Date Company Size ($m) Round Select Investors Headquartered Dec-14 Bitreserve 9.5 Second Undisclosed San Francisco Dec-14 BitGold 3.5 Third PowerOne Capital, Soros Brothers Investments, Sandstorm Gold Toronto Dec-14 PeerNova 8.6 First Mosaik Partners, Steve Case, Crypto Currency Partners San Jose Dec-14 ChangeTip 3.5 First Pantera Capital, 500 Startups, Boldstart Ventures, CryptoCurrency Partners San Francisco Dec-14 DigiByte 0.25 Seed Undisclosed Santa Monica Dec-14 GetGems 0.6 Seed Magma VC Unknown Nov-14 Purse.io 0.3 Seed Roger Ver, Bobby Lee, Terrence Yang, FundersClub, StrongVC San Francisco Nov-14 Blockstream 21 First Reid Hoffman, Khosla Ventures, Real Ventures, Crypto Currency Partners Montreal
  • 41. Q4 Investment Rounds in Bitcoin Startups (contd.) 41State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk (http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/) Close Date Company Size ($m) Round Select Investors Headquartered Nov-14 Dogetipbot 0.45 Seed Blackbird Ventures, Scott and Cyan Banister, Individual Investors Redding Nov-14 CoinOutlet 0.05 Seed BitcoinShop New York Oct-14 Spondoolies- Tech 5 Second Agile Wings, BRM Group, Genesis Partners, Olivier Janssens Kiryat Gat Oct-14 BitLendingClub 0.25 Seed LAUNCHub San Francisco Oct-14 Bitnet 14.5 First Highland Capital Partners, Rakuten, James Pallotta, Stuart Peterson San Francisco Oct-14 AlphaPoint 1.35 Seed Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Robin Hood Ventures New York Oct-14 Coinsetter 1.3 First Unknown New York Oct-14 BitFlyer 0.24 Seed Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. Tokyo
  • 42. Q4 Investment Rounds in Bitcoin Startups (contd.) 42State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk (http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-venture-capital/) Close Date Company Size ($m) Round Select Investors Headquartered Oct-14 Libra 0.5 Seed Liberty City Ventures, James Pallotta, Ben Davenport San Francisco Oct-14 Melotic 1.18 Seed Ceyuan Ventures, Lightspeed China, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp Hong Kong Oct-14 Devign Lab 0.2 Seed K Cube Ventures Seoul Oct-14 BitFury 20 Second Bill Tai, Bob Dykes, Georgian Co- Investment Fund, Lars Rasmussen Amsterdam Oct-14 Coinplug 2.5 First Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Bokwang Investment Corp Seoul Oct-14 Blockchain 30.5 First Lightspeed Ventures, Wicklow Capital, Mosaic Ventures York Oct-14 SolidX 3 First Liberty City Ventures, James Pallotta New York Oct-14 Snapcard 1.5 Seed Tim Draper, Crypto Currency Partners, Insikt Ventures San Francisco
  • 43. 43State of Bitcoin 2015 Commerce
  • 44. >82,000 Merchants Now Accept Bitcoin, Up From 75,000 in Q3 (+9%) 44State of Bitcoin 2015 44K 38K Sources: Coinbase and BitPay
  • 45. Total merchants Forecasted merchants 140,000 Bitcoin-Accepting Merchants Forecast by End of 2015 45State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources and notes: total current merchants based on data from Coinbase and BitPay. Historical Coinbase data provided by BitcoinPulse. BitPay historical data between new merchant press release announcements of 10,000 (16th Sep 2013), 20,000 (13th Jan 2014) and 30,000 (28th May 2014), respectively, calculated using linear interpolation. R² = 0.962 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 160,000
  • 46. Growth in Bitcoin-Accepting Businesses Slowed Throughout 2014 46State of Bitcoin 2015 Sources: CoinDesk, Bitcoinity 13,903 16,800 12,936 10,360 6,000 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Number of New Bitcoin-Accepting Businesses Added Each Quarter
  • 47. Companies Representing >$180 Billion in Annual Revenue Now Accept Bitcoin 47State of Bitcoin 2015 Top 10 Largest Bitcoin-Accepting Retailers *Monprix is a private company; most recent revenue data is from 2005. TigerDirect estimate provided by parent company investor relations. Other divisions that are part of a larger parent organization, but do not break out individual divisional revenues, are excluded. Rank Company Annual Revenue ($bn) 1 Microsoft 86.8 2 Dell 56.9 3 Dish Network 13.9 4 Expedia 5.0 5 Intuit 4.5 6 Monprix* 4.3 7 Time Inc.** 3.4 8 NewEgg 2.8 9 Overstock 1.3 10 TigerDirect* 1.0 Total $179.9 **The revenue is Time Inc. FY 2013 revenue Sources: CoinDesk, Coinbase, BitPay, companies’ annual reports
  • 48. What Do People Buy with Bitcoins? Home Goods & Consumer Electronics 48State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: most popular items purchased through Purse.io by November 2014 Trashbags Coffee Grinder Infant Formula Home Goods Bluetooth SpeakerDigital CameraPlaystation Consumer Electronics
  • 49. Total Wallets Forecasted Wallets Approximately 12 Million Bitcoin Wallets Forecast by End of 2015 49State of Bitcoin 2015 R2 = 0.971 Sources and notes: total wallets based on data from Blockchain.info, MultiBit, Coinbase, Andreas Schildbach (Android Bitcoin Wallet developer). Historical Coinbase data provided by BitcoinPulse. 0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 14,000,000 Jan-13 Mar-13 May-13 Jul-13 Sep-13 Nov-13 Jan-14 Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Jan-15 Mar-15 May-15 Jul-15 Sep-15 Nov-15 Jan-16
  • 50. Daily Bitcoin Transactions Passed 100,000 for the First Time in Q4 50State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: Blockchain.info • Questions linger over how significant a milestone this is, given uncertainty over how many of these transactions represent bona fide economic activities
  • 51. Now Over 320 Bitcoin ATMs Around the World 51State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk (www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-atm-map/) 1213246
  • 52. 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Oct-13 Jan-14 Apr-14 Jul-14 Oct-14 Jan-15 Apr-15 Jul-15 Oct-15 Jan-16 Total ATMs Forecasted ATMs Approximately 750 Bitcoin ATMs Forecast by End of 2015 52State of Bitcoin 2015 R2 = 0.973 Sources: CoinDesk, CoinATMRadar
  • 53. Lamassu Led ATM Deployments in 2014, Skyhook Became Second Largest 53State of Bitcoin 2015 Lamassu accounts for over a third of the bitcoin ATM market Sources: CoinDesk, CoinATMRadar
  • 54. Most Bitcoin ATMs Located in Stores, Restaurants and Coffee Shops 54State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk, www.coindesk.com/6-charts-show-massive-bitcoin-atm-growth-2014/
  • 55. 55State of Bitcoin 2015 Technology
  • 56. 0 5,000,000,000 10,000,000,000 15,000,000,000 20,000,000,000 25,000,000,000 30,000,000,000 35,000,000,000 40,000,000,000 45,000,000,000 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Bitcoin Network Difficulty Declined for First Time in Two Years 56State of Bitcoin 2015 The drop in difficulty was expected due to depressed bitcoin prices* *CoinDesk examined the issue in September 2014 and concluded that difficulty could reverse if prices do not recover www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-mining- can-longer-ignore-moores-law/ Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Mining Difficulty
  • 57. Discus Fish AntPool GHash.IO KnCMiner BTCChina Pool BTC Guild Slush Unknown with 1AcAj9p Address Eligius P2Pool Bitcoin Affiliate Network Unknown with 1BwZeHJ Address BitMinter Megabigpower MegaBigPower EclipseMC mmpool Polmine CloudHashing Unknown Mining Pools: GHash Continues to Shrink, No Permanent Solution for 51% Attack Risk Yet 57State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: 4-day average as of 3rd Jan 2015 blockchain.info/pools
  • 58. CoinBase’s API Gaining Traction With 44 Bitcoin Apps Built on it 58State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinBase
  • 59. Bitcoin Developer Ecosystem Continues to Grow 59State of Bitcoin 2015 Number of created repositories in GitHub with bitcoin in the name or description Source: BitcoinPulse
  • 60. Number of Bitcoin Nodes Has Leveled Off in Last Two Quarters 60State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: BitcoinPulse
  • 61. Crypto 2.0 Projects to Keep an Eye on in 2015 61State of Bitcoin 2015 BitAssets – allowing traders to hedge against bitcoin's fluctuations Alternative blockchain to bitcoin’s Decentralised social messenger Bringing smart contracts to market Source: CoinDesk
  • 62. Bitcoin Companies are Collaborating on Security Across Industry Sectors 62State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk
  • 63. Adoption of Multi-signature (Multisig) Wallet Security Increased in 2014 63State of Bitcoin 2015 • Multisig: advertised as the digital equivalent of a safe deposit box. • At the beginning of 2014, only 0.02% of all bitcoins featured multisig security, that number is now more than 5%. • These companies now utilize multisig: Source: BitGo
  • 64. 64State of Bitcoin 2015 Regulation and Macro
  • 65. Over 250 Academic Articles on Bitcoin to Date Cover a Wide Range of Research Topics 65State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: Peer-to-Peer Review: The State of Academic Bitcoin Research 2014 by Brett Scott. Word Cloud of 250 article titles generated using Tagul.
  • 66. A Number of Countries Expressing Interest in Regulating Bitcoin as a Commodity 66State of Bitcoin 2015 • US Commodities Futures and Trading Commission said it had oversight over bitcoin and digital currencies because they could be defined as a commodity. • Bitcoin has been classified as a commodity in Finland after the Scandinavian country’s central bank declared that it did not meet the definition of a currency. • Grant Spencer, deputy governor of New Zealand's Reserve Bank, said bitcoin "behaves more like a commodity than a currency”. Source: CoinDesk
  • 67. Some Positive Developments with New York’s BitLicense Regulatory Framework 67State of Bitcoin 2015 • New York’s BitLicense regulatory proposal widely regarded as a possible framework for other jurisdictions. • Ben Lawsky announced the latest revisions to the draft BitLicense in mid-December. • Clarified and narrowed which players in the digital currency industry would be required to obtain a BitLicense. • Fewer disclosure and record-keeping requirements for transactions. • The proposed record-keeping requirement for licensees reduced from 10 to seven years. • Broader range of financial assets (that includes virtual currency) that can be counted towards licensees' capital requirements. Ben Lawsky Source: CoinDesk
  • 68. Some Bitcoin Firms are Making Progress with Banking Relationships 68State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk Safello first to partner with UK bank Unisend re- established partnership with a state bank UK Banks
  • 69. Russia is Illustrative of the Topsy-Turvy Nature of Bitcoin Regulation 69State of Bitcoin 2015 3 Oct Russia proposes monetary penalty for bitcoin usage and promotion 4 Dec Russian conference presses on under threat of bitcoin ban 10 Nov Russia lowers proposed penalties for bitcoin activities 29 Dec Russian ministry criticises draft bill banning bitcoin 9 Oct Russia's startups seek refuge abroad under threat of bitcoin ban 6 Oct Russia seizes bitcoin mining equipment in incident at China border Source: CoinDesk
  • 70. Highlights for bitcoin in 2014 • 25% mention more merchants’ acceptance, VC investment and technology improvement Biggest setback for bitcoin in 2014 • 33% mention price drop and Mt Gox’s collapse What to look forward to for bitcoin in 2015 • 83% expect bitcoin VC funding to surpass investment in 2014 • 54% indicate US and Argentina are likely to see greater relative adoption of bitcoin • 42% mention security development as a focus • 33% mention bitcoin seeing more traction in emerging markets Highlights from Bitcoin Thought Leaders Survey 70State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey (an informal survey sent to a small number of bitcoin community influencers)
  • 71. Views on the Highs and Lows for Bitcoin in 2014 71State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey Tyson Cross, tax attorney “From a tax prospective, the biggest setback for bitcoin in 2014 was its classification as ‘property’ instead of ‘foreign currency’.” Brett Scott, author “I'm pleased that people began to discuss non- monetary uses of blockchain technology more during 2014.” Ola Doudin, BitOasis & YellowPay “I think 2014 was a positive year (for bitcoin) in Middle East where you see more startups launching, more eager and serious players in the space, and more consumer awareness.”
  • 72. Views On What Lies Ahead for Bitcoin Regulation and Price Volatility in 2015 72State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey Ivan Brightly, SolidX Partners “In 2015, I expect that the marginal buyers are hedge funds, family offices, high net worth individuals and the like.” Izabella Kaminska, Financial Times “Regulation is an existential threat for bitcoin because it can only compete effectively if it remains an unregulated asset class.” Gil Luria, Wedbush Securities “Volatility is part of the currency and is unlikely to go away.”
  • 73. Views On What Lies Ahead for Bitcoin Regulation and Price Volatility in 2015 73State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey Will O’Brien, BitGo “I believe there will be continued adoption by top merchants and we may see the first adoption by a mainstream consumer payment network.” David Yermack, NYU Professor of Finance “I believe bitcoin commerce will become increasingly concentrated online. Accepting bitcoin makes little sense for face-to-face transactions with ordinary merchants due to the delays in validation.”
  • 74. Views on Bitcoin 74State of Bitcoin 2015 Jon Matonis Founding Director Bitcoin Foundation Source: CoinDesk Bitcoin Thought Leader Annual Survey
  • 75. Factoring in Remittance Fees Makes Sub- Saharan Africa Most Fertile Market for Bitcoin … 75State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: Hileman (2014) ‘Bitcoin Market Potential Index’, London School of Economics working paper. Announcement article: www.coindesk.com/argentina-most-likely-adopt-bitcoin/ BMPI Regional Distribution - Top 30 BMPI Regional Distribution - Top 10 Asia 0% Europe 10% Middle East & North Africa 10% Latin America 20% US & Canada 10% Sub- Saharan Africa 40% Post- Soviet/Com munist 10% Asia 7% Europe 3% Middle East & North Africa 13% Latin America 17% US & Canada 3% Sub- Saharan Africa 40% Post- Soviet/Com munist 17%
  • 76. … Yet Bitcoin Regulation in Africa Lags Behind the Rest of the World 76State of Bitcoin 2015 Source: Wikipedia https://team.cartodb.com/u/andrew/viz/365aa620-c273-11e4-bac7-0e018d66dc29/embed_map
  • 77. About CoinDesk • Find out more at www.coindesk.com • Follow us on Twitter: @CoinDesk • Subscribe to our daily email newsletters for the latest digital currency news • If you have data you think should be included in future State of Bitcoin reports, email stateofbitcoin@coindesk.com • We also welcome any feedback you have on the report 77State of Bitcoin 2015
  • 78. Disclaimer • CoinDesk makes every effort to ensure that the information in this presentation is accurate and up to date. We cannot, however, accept responsibility for any loss or inconvenience caused by reliance on the material contained here. • This presentation does not constitute financial advice or an investment recommendation in any way whatsoever. It is recommended that you perform your own independent research and/or speak with a qualified investment professional before making any financial decisions. 78State of Bitcoin 2015

Editor's Notes

  1. Changed Q4 to Q4
  2. http://www.CoinDesk.com/bitcoin-price-2014-year-review/
  3. Used number of investment in each year
  4. Coincheck: http://www.CoinDesk.com/japanese-bitcoin-growth-continues-new-e-commerce-platform/ Coinjar: http://www.CoinDesk.com/coinjar-launches-bitcoin-debit-card-trial/ http://www.CoinDesk.com/coinmade-is-a-new-bitcoin-merchant-directory-by-the-team-behind-coinjar/ Xapo: http://www.CoinDesk.com/new-xapo-deposit-feature-lets-users-buy-bitcoin-via-wire-transfer/ Intuit: http://www.CoinDesk.com/intuit-merchants-accept-bitcoin-paybycoin-service/ Bitreserve: http://www.CoinDesk.com/first-glimpse-inside-halsey-minors-new-payments-platform-bitreserve/ Bitpay: http://www.CoinDesk.com/bitpay-open-source-bitcore-app-developers/
  5. http://tweakyourbiz.com/management/files/How-to-Screw-Up-An-Acquisition.jpg http://www.CoinDesk.com/bitex-la-exchange-launches-user-friendly-bitcoin-buying-service/ http://www.CoinDesk.com/coinbase-acquires-block-explorer-service-blockr-io/ http://www.CoinDesk.com/blockchain-info-acquires-bitcoin-price-app-zeroblock/ http://www.CoinDesk.com/zeroblock-acquires-real-time-bitcoin-trading-platform-rtbtc/
  6. Gems’ location is unknown. Omitted from the table. Data different from Q3 SoB.
  7. Number of companies counted by adding new companies in Q4
  8. http://suitpossum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/academic-bitcoin-research.html
  9. US: CFTC Chairman: We Have Oversight of Bitcoin Derivatives http://www.CoinDesk.com/cftc-chairman-oversight-bitcoin-derivatives/ Finland: Bitcoin Classified 'Commodity' by Finland Central Bank http://www.CoinDesk.com/bitcoin-classified-commodity-finland-central-bank/ New Zealand Central Bank 'Not Threatened' by Bitcoin's Rise http://www.CoinDesk.com/new-zealand-central-bank-threatened-bitcoins-rise/
  10. Ban: Bolivia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan,Bangladesh and Russia. Bitcoin Needs an Aggressive Legal Defense http://www.CoinDesk.com/bitcoin-needs-aggressive-legal-defense/