America’s top public companies are busier than ever on-chain. On-chain projects announced by Fortune 100 companies grew 39% year-over-year and hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2024. A survey of Fortune 500 executives found that 56% said their companies are working on on-chain projects. From the largest traditional brands to small businesses, from stablecoins to tokenized treasuries, trusted brands and products in the financial sector are embracing blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, driving innovation and providing an onramp to widespread adoption. The increase in activity highlights the urgency of developing clear cryptocurrency rules that can help keep cryptocurrency developers and other talent in the United States.
According to research conducted by The Block for Coinbase, the number of cryptocurrency, blockchain or web3 initiatives announced by Fortune 100 companies increased 39% year-over-year and hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2024. The survey of Fortune 500 executives found that 56% said their companies were working on on-chain projects, including consumer-facing payment applications. The increase in activity highlights the urgency of developing clear cryptocurrency rules that can help keep cryptocurrency developers and other talent in the United States, fulfill the promise of better access to cryptocurrency, and keep the United States at the forefront of the global cryptocurrency space.
Many of the most trusted names and products in finance are embracing blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, driving innovation and providing an onramp to widespread adoption:
- Of course, spot Bitcoin ETFs emerged — and there was pent-up demand. Today, total assets under management for spot Bitcoin ETFs exceed $63 billion[2]. On May 23, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved an exchange-traded application to list and trade a spot Ethereum ETF (pending S-1 approval), further expanding access to spot cryptocurrencies with a familiar, trusted product and spurring adoption.
- Beyond ETFs — on-chain government securities are driving renewed interest in tokenizing real-world assets. Recent high interest rates have fueled demand for safe, high-yield on-chain treasuries, with the value of tokenized U.S. Treasury products growing by more than 1,000% to $1.29 billion since the beginning of 2023[3]. BlackRock’s $382 million tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, BUIDL, recently surpassed Franklin Templeton’s $368 million fund as the largest; crypto hedge funds and market makers are using BUIDL as collateral to trade coins and tokens[4]. By 2030, the tokenized asset market is expected to reach $16 trillion — equivalent to the current size of the European Union’s GDP[5].
- In addition to Coinbase, global payment giants PayPal and Stripe are also making stablecoins easier to use. Through Circle, merchants on Stripe can now accept USDC payments through Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon - payments are automatically converted to fiat currency. PayPal supports cross-border transfers for stablecoin users in about 160 countries - without paying transaction fees, while the average fee in the $860 billion global remittance market is 4.45% to 6.39% [6][7]. By 2023, the annual settlement volume of stablecoins will reach $10 trillion, more than 10 times the amount of global remittances.
- Progress is coming not only from the top down, but also from the bottom up: small businesses, the most trusted institutions in the United States, are also getting into cryptocurrency.[8] About seven in ten (68%) believe that cryptocurrency can help solve at least one financial pain point, with transaction fees and processing times being the biggest pain point.
At Coinbase, we applaud the progress TradFi has made in updating their systems and draw a few key takeaways from the data:
- The United States must cultivate the talent it increasingly needs, rather than continue to lose it overseas. The share of U.S. developers continues to decline, falling 14 percentage points over the past five years; only 26% of crypto developers are currently in the United States[9]. Among Fortune 500 (F500) executives, concerns about available, trustworthy talent are now the biggest barrier to crypto adoption, rather than concerns about regulation. Among small businesses, half say they are likely to seek a candidate familiar with crypto the next time they fill a finance, legal, or IT/tech role. Clear rules on crypto are key to retaining U.S. developers—and key to the United States continuing to lead the world in cutting-edge technology innovation.
- It is also critical to ensure that the technology delivers on its promise to provide better access – both for crypto-using companies that need financial services, and for vulnerable groups that need them. For the underbanked and unbanked, about half (48%) of F500 executives said crypto has the potential to increase access to the financial system and the ability to create wealth. For companies using cryptocurrencies, one F500 executive noted that banks can encourage innovation by finding more ways to work with them.
- The U.S. needs to take a leadership role in this space. F500 executives show strong interest: 79% want to work with U.S. partners on initiatives (up from 73% a year ago), and 72% agree that having a U.S. dollar-backed digital currency (versus the yen) would allow the U.S. economy to remain globally competitive.
Cryptocurrency is the future of money. This research report, our fourth since June 2023 and our annual review of enterprise adoption, is the latest from Coinbase in our comprehensive campaign to educate the public on the role that cryptocurrency, blockchain, and other web3 technologies can play in updating the global financial system for the benefit of businesses and consumers.
