Zug Crypto Valley already has five unicorns

The Crypto Valley around the city of Zug, known as the Silicon Valley of the Swiss blockchain industry, is becoming an increasingly important economic factor and already employs more than 3,000 people.
 
Among the 600 plus companies there are also five so-called unicorns. These are companies valued at more than 1 billion Swiss francs, according to a study by the consultancy PwC and the Zug investment companies CV VC and Inacta.
 
The study for the first time compiled a list of the top 50 companies in the Crypto Valley. Even though the data regarding market capitalisation estimates are incomplete, according to the survey, the 50 largest blockchain companies already have a market value of around 44 billion dollars.
 
In regard to the 600 plus companies considered, it is important to note that companies which only indirectly work with blockchain technology, such as consulting firms, law firms, and academic institutions, were also included. Nevertheless, it is still twice as many as six months ago, as the authors announced on Wednesday.
 
Astonishing was that the top 50, in comparison to other start-ups, had a very large capital cover and generally operated with figures in the double-digit millions. Additionally, investments in the hundreds of millions or up to a billion were no rarity either as seen through companies such as the cryptocurrency project Tezos or the developers of the decentralised "Internet Computer" Dfinity.
 
The five unicorns are hardware producer for the mining of cryptocurrencies Bitmain, payment developer Cardano, Dfinity as well as Zug-based Ethereum and payment provider Xapo.