Top crypto unicorns in 2024

The number of unicorns, or privately held startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more, has been growing over the past few years, reshaping our understanding of success, innovation, and entrepreneurship. With four recent newcomers in 2024, cryptocurrency companies are some of the youngest members of the exclusive club. Using data from the business analytics platform CB Insights, the team at BestBrokers was curious to find out which crypto companies entered the unicorn league this year and what makes them stand out.

According to the data, we analyzed, there are a total of 59 unicorns from the crypto world as of June 2024. These companies are collectively valued at a staggering $188.81 billion, led by the industry giant Ripple, which boasts the highest valuation of $15 billion. Interestingly, 37 companies, or 62% of all crypto unicorns are based in the U.S. Canada has 3 unicorns, while the Seychelles, Hong Kong, and India each have 2. The rest of the countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and China, are home to one crypto unicorn each.

Top crypto unicorns in 2024 and key insights from the report:

San Francisco is the world’s crypto unicorn capital, home to 14 startups valued at $1 billion or higher, followed by New York with 13. Canadian unicorns are headquartered in Waterloo, Toronto, and Vancouver. Almost all unicorns from the other countries are located in their respective capital cities.

The combined valuation of all crypto unicorns grew by $6.6 billion or from $182.2 to $188.8 billion in 2024.

Four promising companies from the crypto world reached unicorn status in 2024, namely Monad Labs (U.S.), Merkle (U.S.), Manufactory (U.S.), Polyhedra Network (U.S.) and HashKeyHashKey (Hong Kong).

In 2024 a total of 28 startups from 6 different industries became unicorns. A point worth mentioning is that the blockchain developer Monad Labs is the 2024 startup with the highest valuation of $3 billion.

The oldest crypto unicorn is a Boston company called Circle, which joined the elite ranks in May 2018. Circle is a peer-to-peer payments company that currently manages Stablecoin USDC, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Blockchain.com is the company with the biggest decline in valuation from 2023. On last year’s Series E funding, the crypto giant closed a $110 million raise, resulting in a company valuation slashed in half to $7 billion, from the previous $14 billion.