Recently, Forbes the fresh edition of its “” list, counting the world’s top firms. Notably, there are just six crypto and blockchain companies featured this year, while from the field.
Given that the notorious crypto boom of 2017 has been followed by the relentless bear market, it is hardly surprising. Nevertheless, while there is considerably fewer crypto companies featured this year, less than half of them — , , — have made the list before, which means that new blood arrived regardless of the market condition.
Veterans
Ripple
What does it do?
Ripple () is the longest-standing crypto-oriented company on the Forbes list, being recognized for the fifth year in a row. Its main focus is blockchain-powered cross-border remittance payments. Essentially, the San Francisco-based startup — the system that handles as much as $5 trillion worth of transactions per day worldwide — with faster settlements.
What happened to it in 2018?
Overall, 2018 was a productive year for Ripple. While the company was burdened with (if proven, the company may face significant fines) and didn’t get listed on Coinbase following , it succeeded to tap numerous financial institutions — such as the and — for its RippleNet network. Moreover, the firm launched blockchain money transfer apps in conjunction with and .
Further, the company hired some senior-level talent: Former Google executive Amir Sarhangi , and Kahina Van Dyke, Facebook’s former global director of financial services and payments partnerships, the company as senior vice president of business and corporate development. Finally, Ripple continued to team up with universities from across the globe to research blockchain technology, .
BitFury
What does it do?
is widely known as the largest non-Chinese company, but it was featured on the Forbes for the second year in a row for its endeavours to expand even further, among other reasons. This year, the magazine described the -based startup as a “full-service blockchain firm.”
What happened to it in 2018?
Notably, BitFury with big four consulting firm to create a blockchain accelerator for businesses in . It was also revealed that PwC had already been using Exonum — BitFury’s open source framework for building blockchain applications — for educational courses and seminars.
Moreover, rumors that the startup was planning to go public, reviewing , Amsterdam and as the host city for a potential initial public offering (). BitFury also advanced on the self-regulatory field, its software stack Crystal designed to help fight crimes involving ₿itcoin (), and a former United States Securities and Exchange Commission () member to its advisory board. Finally, the firm didn’t forget its roots, having a new generation of its BTC mining hardware.
Coinbase
What does it do?
Similarly, Forbes praised — a major U.S. ₿itcoin wallet and retail exchange — for its moves beyond its usual line of work. The company was listed now for the third year in a row.
What happened to it in 2018?
In what seems one of the main achievements for the company from last year, Coinbase over-the-counter () trading for institutional customers, an educational program and Earn.com, a blockchain-powered paid messaging service. Moreover, the company its first in collaboration with , another Forbes-listed crypto startup and .
Newcomers
Circle
What does it do?
Circle is a , Boston-based startup focused on making instant money transfers that also offers an insured ₿itcoin wallet. The company was featured on Forbes’ “Fintech 50” for the first time this year.
What happened to it in 2018?
Indeed, the past months were especially productive for Circle, which its Ethereum-based, dollar-pegged stablecoin in collaboration with Coinbase, and went as far as to U.S. crypto exchange for $400 million.
Gemini
What does it do?
, the ’ crypto exchange, also debuted on the Forbes list. Having chosen compliance as its main policy, the platform has been pushing the boundaries of the U.S. framework.
What happened to it in 2018?
After becoming in Dec. 2017, the Winklevii were off to a jumpstart last year. After a few executives to seek institutional investment, the startup its own stablecoin with the approval of the New York Department of Financial Services (), and now to land a SEC-approval BTC exchange-traded fund () — a potential for the industry.
Most recently, the twins’ company its major audit, becoming the first crypto exchange and custodian to complete a Service Organizational Control () 2 Review by .
Axoni
What does it do?
Enterprise-focused, -based blockchain startup is perhaps the least recognized newcomer on the crypto part of the Forbes list. The firm is focused on building blockchain solutions for capital markets, and has struck several partnerships with major financial institutions, .
What happened to it in 2018?
While there is little information on the startup available online (at least, compared to the other nominees), its didn’t go unnoticed. It was led by Goldman Sachs and other high-profile banks and venture capital investors, and allowed Axoni to secure $32 million. As Forbes puts it, the startup “is currently putting the $10 trillion credit derivative market onto smart contracts working with DTCC and a steering committee of 15 of world’s biggest banks.”
Who was left out this year?
As mentioned above, 2017 was more fruitful in regard to crypto agents on the list. This time, for instance, the company Blockchain, which was as “the world’s most popular cryptocurrency wallet” by Forbes last year, didn’t make the cut.
-based startup — which lists , and as customers for its service of creating private blockchains — was by in September 2018, which could explain its absence this year.
Crypto compliance provider and research firm was also left out. In October 2018, the platform with exchange to assist in its expansions into various international markets, where different Anti-Money Laundering () and Know Your Customer () rules apply.
Crypto exchange , which is headquartered in the famous in , is missing as well this time, which comes as no surprise — a month ago, the company it was laying off as much as a third of its team, citing the crypto winter as the main reason.
, the -located firm behind blockchain and platform Assembly, which reportedly will be applied in capital markets, mostly stayed silent throughout 2018 — as a result, it’s not featured in the new edition. However, in late January 2019, the startup $20 million in investment from Citigroup and Nasdaq, among others — which means that it is off to a good start this year.
Finally, secure offline storage firm and BTC wallet didn’t make this list this time. Most recently, the startup it was relocating key business operations from Hong Kong to Switzerland due to “opaque” regulations.
Are they any other crypto companies on the list?
, a stock trading app that zero-fee crypto trading of BTC and ETH for its users in 2018, is featured on the fresh “Fintech 50” list for the second year in a row, although not in the “Crypto and Blockchain” section. In January this year, it a to operate in New York, which implies that it might expand its crypto-related operation even further.
Published at Sat, 09 Feb 2019 17:05:00 +0000
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