Sectors

Sector-level analysis of Crypto Valley’s blockchain economy – how companies, capital, and talent distribute across the ecosystem’s principal verticals.

The Crypto Valley ecosystem is not monolithic. Its 1,749 companies span at least a dozen distinct subsectors, each with different growth dynamics, regulatory requirements, and capital intensity. Infrastructure – encompassing Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols, node operations, and developer tooling – remains the largest vertical at 20 per cent of companies, reflecting Switzerland’s historical strength in protocol development anchored by the Ethereum Foundation’s Zug presence.

Financial services accounts for 18 per cent of the ecosystem and represents the fastest-growing sector, driven by regulated custody providers, tokenised securities platforms, and stablecoin issuers benefiting from FINMA’s licensing framework. Consulting and advisory services hold a stable 17 per cent share, a figure that reflects the density of specialised blockchain legal, tax, and compliance expertise concentrated in Zug and Zurich.

Decentralised finance commands a significant share of ecosystem valuation despite a smaller company count, owing to the outsized market capitalisations of several Zug-domiciled DeFi protocols. Conversely, GameFi and NFT companies, while representing 6 per cent of entities, captured only 1 per cent of 2024 funding – a sharp contraction from prior years.

Sector classifications follow the taxonomy established in the CV VC Top 50 Report, supplemented by our own assessment of company filings and stated business activities.