1 / 5Morgan Stanley: Between August 2021 and May 2022, Morgan Stanley topped the list of banks investing in crypto and blockchain-related firms. The global investment bank pumped nearly $1.1 billion into the crypto ecosystem over two rounds of investments during this period. This is a considerable jump from earlier in 2021, wherein the multinational conglomerate committed a little over $230 million through investments in R3, NYDIG and Securitize. The company’s latest rounds of funding include a further investment in NYDIG and a fresh investment in the blockchain infrastructure and services firm, Figment.
2 / 5Goldman Sachs: During the same period, Goldman Sachs funnelled approximately $698 million into the crypto space. This amount was spread across five crypto and blockchain-based companies, including CertiK, Coin Metrics, Blackdaemon, and Elwood. The investment banking giant co-led the $70 million Series A funding for Elwood Technologies, a crypto-focused platform founded by British billionaire Alan Howard. Goldman Sachs was also part of a $350 million Series D funding for Anchorage Digital, with other investors including Alameda Research, Andreessen Horowitz and Kraken.
3 / 5BNY Mellon: Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, put down an estimated $690 million across three rounds of funding. These rounds included Talos (a digital asset trading infrastructure firm), Coin Metrics (a blockchain analytics firm) and Fireblocks (an institutionally focused crypto custodian servicing company). The world's largest custodian bank and securities services company led the $35 million Series C funding for blockchain analytics firm Coin Metrics. The bank is also one of the leading investors of Fireblocks, a company that provides crypto custodian services to BNY Mellon and popular DeFi applications such as Compound Treasury and Aave Arc.
4 / 5Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA): According to BlockData’s figures, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia pumped an estimated $421 million across four different crypto and blockchain firms. This included investments in blockchain banking startup, Lygon and crypto exchange Gemini. CBA also plans to integrate Gemini’s technology, allowing customers to buy, sell and trade digital assets through its smartphone app. CBA is also the only bank on the list that isn’t based out of the US.
5 / 5Citigroup: Citigroup has been diversifying its investments in the cryptosphere, funding nine different companies in 2021 and further funding six firms as of May 2022. The multinational group notched up $215 million in funding earlier this year, which is $64 million less than its previous year’s total. Between August 2021 and May 2022, Citi invested in crypto and blockchain firms such as Talos, TRM, Contour, Blockdaemon and Amberdata. Citi also led the $15M Series A funding for Amberdata, a digital asset data company based out of Palo Alto, California.
