From 5 million people in 2016 to 221 million in 2021, the number of people who have used cryptocurrencies grows each year. In the United States, around 15% of people use cryptocurrencies and some projections hint that number could hit 100% by 2030.

When it comes to crypto, the only trend that comes close is the growth of personal computers in the 1980s and 1990s. Clearly, we’re still in the early stages – the largest U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN), was only publicly listed in April 2021.

Even at this early stage, we see cryptocurrency put to diverse uses – real estate, the Metaverse, luxury cars, sports, non-fungible tokens. The diversity among crypto use cases and, indeed, users, is virtually endless.

However, many of these diverse users are connected by a single online platform. They use it to strategize behind their crypto, trade tips and information, learn about new projects, and coordinate their moves. There’s really nothing quite like it online.

We can’t own it yet, but there are some very good reasons why I’m watching for this stock’s big-index debut…

The Must-Have Platform for Crypto Communicators

Cryptocurrency is at its heart a “networked” asset – it’s all about communication and transparency. At the same time, it’s incredibly fast-paced, and its breathtaking performance over the past decade means it attracts new users every minute of the day.

There’s a learning curve for new folks, and those users increasingly turn to Discord, and only Discord, to get clued-in.

Discord is essentially a messaging platform, originally created by video gamers Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy.

Citron and Vishnevskiy realized there was no real fast, reliable, or easy platform gamers could access to interact and share ideas, commiserate, or gloat. So in 2015, they created Discord. In the years since, more than 300 million users have come aboard, drawn by the sheer ease of use of Discord.

Discord has become, essentially, a hangout for gamers, artists, fans, and, notably, cryptocurrency investors.

It’s so important to the crypto-sphere that Coindesk, in its Consensus 2022 report, recommended anyone investing in crypto use Discord to find their footing.

Sure enough, there are 433 cryptocurrency groups with 1,563,258 members on the platform. Around 960 million messages are sent every day, averaging 4 billion minutes of conversations.

The average user spends 280.6 minutes per month on the Discord, or 5 hours each month or 9 minutes per day. This number is expected to only increase with the popularity of the platform and the mass adoption of cryptocurrency.

That focus and widespread “brand awareness” has enabled Discord to put in impressive performance already.

The Platform Boasts Impressive Numbers

Discord’s valuation more than doubled in a year, attaining rare “unicorn” status. In 2020, the company was valued at $7 billion, but last year it reached $15 billion, which puts it on a par with Reddit.

The company has attracted more than $482 million in venture capital funding, and pulled in a reported $130 million in revenue in 2020. That’s more than triple the 2019 figure of $45 million. Clearly, the Discord has grown right alongside cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.

Its high-growth profile has attracted plenty of possibly buyers, including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), though, incredibly, management rebuffed “Mr. Softy’s” $12 billion tender.

That revenue started pouring in when Discord implemented a cash-generating fee-based system. Their “Discord Nitro” scheme costs $4.99 a month and offers unique benefits for paying members. There’s also the $4.99 “Discord Boost” functionality and “stickers” – flair that users can post.

With a fattened war chest, Discord bought Blitz App in November 2018, Sentropy in June 2021, and Ubiquity6 in July 2021. Ubiquity6 provides massively multiplayer, persistent augmented reality experiences on top of the physical environment, while Blitz App is an artificial intelligence-powered personal gaming coach for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, League of Legends, Valorant, and a few other very popular games. The addition of these platforms helped the company grow from “just another messaging app” the juggernaut it is today.

Discord leadership has spent the past few weeks prospecting and interviewing various investment banks, though it’s still unclear whether they’ll opt for a traditional initial public offering (IPO) or use another route favored by tech startups of late, the direct listing.

However these shares are brought to market, I’ll be watching closely for the right opportunity to buy. I expect, as crypto mass adoption accelerates, this company’s user base and revenue will grow in lockstep.