Gem.co-sponsored first quarter report for Bitcoin by Coindesk, called 'State of Bitcoin,' pointed to an interesting start of the year for the alternative virtual currency due to larger amount of customer wallets, as well as merchants trading in the currency.
This all came despite lower interest of media and could boost a wider coverage again, as the highest level of capital investment in the industry has been experienced now. Another lagging factor was also the growth tempo of merchants using the currency.
In numbers, Bitcoin wallets number jumped by 14% over the quarter and on an annual basis we could see extraoridnary 91% to actual 8.46 at the end of the Q1 2015. The number of Bitcoin merchants rose 7% on quarterly basis, confirming steady (albeit slower) growth. Optimism even in this case is supported by revenue of merchants, rising 78 times on an annual basis, reaching $180 billion in total. venture capital investment in startups related to Bitcoin reached an all-time high in Q1 2015, $229 million in total.
The largest contributor to such upbeat quarterly results were 21 Inc and Coinbase, both reaching $191 million together in Bitcoin investment. Nevertheless, media coverage dropped 10% quarter-to-quarter and 82% on an annual basis.
21 Inc is known as the best-funded startup in Bitcoin industry and the second-best financially supported entity. Coinbase reported further negotiations with UK authorities related to first regulated bitcoin exchange to be settled in United Kingdom.
