Forbes Fintech 50 | 9 Blockchain Companies Selected, FTX and OpenSea Make Debut as Dark Horses on the List!

The U.S. magazine Forbes recently released its list of the top 50 global fintech companies, with 9 blockchain startups including FTX and NFT trading platform OpenSea making the list.

The 7th edition of the Global Fintech 50, "Fintech 50 2022," was announced by Forbes on the 7th. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the growth of the cryptocurrency market, venture capital invested a total of $133 billion into the fintech sector this year, triple the amount from the previous year, making the selection process for this year's list the most challenging in history.

A total of 9 blockchain companies were selected this year, with 4 of them making their debut, including FTX, NFT trading platform OpenSea, crypto analytics company TRM Labs, and payment company Chipper Cash.

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The other 5 companies include analytics firm Chainalysis, stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos, crypto custodian Fireblocks, public chain creator Ava Labs of Avalanche, and developer Alchemy.

"FTX exchange, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, now sees a monthly trading volume of $2.4 trillion in crypto derivatives, accounting for 11% of the global market volume. OpenSea has become the preferred platform for NFT trading, with a monthly trading volume of around $3 billion."

Below are the 9 selected blockchain startups:

FTX

Headquarters: Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas
Valuation: $32 billion USD
Operating Data: Revenue in 2021 reached $1 billion USD; User base increased from 246,000 in 2020 to 3.1 million in 2021
Founder: Sam Bankman-Fried, 30 years old, currently serving as the CEO of FTX.

FTX is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Its monthly cryptocurrency derivatives trading volume has reached $2.4 trillion USD, accounting for 11% of the global market trading volume. FTX raised $1.5 billion USD last year, with its valuation soaring from $1.2 billion USD to $25 billion USD; this year, it raised $500 million USD, reaching a valuation of $32 billion USD. FTX has recently focused on building brand awareness, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing. Its brand ambassadors include Tom Brady, David Ortiz, and Kevin O'Leary. Additionally, FTX has established an independently operated FTX US in the United States to seek a larger market share.

OpenSea

Headquarters: New York
Valuation: $13.3 billion USD
Operating Data: Monthly NFT trading volume is $3 billion USD, with monthly revenue of $75 million USD
Co-founders: Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah.

Founded about five years ago, OpenSea was an early participant in the NFT market and became well-known in 2021 as the NFT market grew. As a peer-to-peer trading platform, OpenSea allows users to create, buy, and sell various NFTs on the platform, charging a 2.5% transaction fee. Despite facing fierce competition, OpenSea still dominates the NFT market.

Ava Labs

Headquarters: New York
Operating Data: Over 2.4 million users, with the token AVAX of its public chain Avalanche valued at $8.5 billion USD
Co-founders: CEO Emin Gün Sirer, COO Kevin Sekniqi, Chief Architect Ted Yin.

Ava Labs is the company behind the creation of the public chain Avalanche, which is one of the biggest potential competitors to Ethereum. Over the past year, more than 500 Dapps have been built and run on Avalanche, which can process 4,500 transactions per second.

Circle

Headquarters: Boston
Valuation: $9 billion USD
Operating Data: Approximately $49 billion USD worth of stablecoins issued
Co-founders: CEO Jeremy Allaire and board member Sean Neville.

Circle is the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin globally, USDC. USDC is issued on 8 blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche, commonly used in decentralized finance platforms, and integrated into the Visa payment network. Circle primarily generates revenue through its reserve assets, including interest from cash deposits and short-term government bonds.

Paxos

Headquarters: New York
Valuation: $2.4 billion USD
Operating Data: Over 100 institutional clients
Co-founders: CEO Charles Cascarilla and Asia CEO Rich Teo.

Paxos is a blockchain service provider founded in 2012, initially known as the itBit exchange. It helps PayPal and Venmo establish cryptocurrency trading services, enabling users of these companies to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies. Institutions like BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, and Nomura Instinet have utilized Paxos' services for direct settlement of trades. Paxos is seeking regulatory approval as a clearing agency by the SEC. Additionally, the company has issued a USD-pegged stablecoin called Pax Dollar.

TRM Labs

Headquarters: San Francisco
Valuation: $600 million USD
Operating Status: Serving numerous clients, including FTX and stablecoin issuer Circle
Co-founders: CEO Esteban Castaño, CTO Rahul Raina.

TRM Labs assists financial institutions and government agencies like the IRS in investigating money laundering, crypto fraud, and other financial crimes through blockchain data analysis. TRM Labs' analytics tools allow users to monitor over 26 different blockchains, covering assets exceeding 1 million varieties.

Chainalysis

Headquarters: New York
Valuation: $8.6 billion USD
Operating Data: Over the past year, Chainalysis has seen a 75% increase in users spanning across 70+ countries
Co-founders: CEO Michael Gronager and CSO Jonathan Levin.

Chainalysis is a data analysis company that helps government agencies solve criminal cases involving cryptocurrency assets. In November last year, it assisted the IRS in seizing $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency.

Chipper Cash

Headquarters: San Francisco
Valuation: $2.2 billion USD
Revenue Data: Revenue was $18 million USD in 2020, increasing to $75 million USD in 2021
Co-founders: CEO Serunjogi and CTO Maijid Moujaled.

Chipper Cash allows users from five African countries, as well as the UK and US, to pay bills, transfer money, and buy Bitcoin on the platform. The registered users were 2 million in 2020, growing to 5 million by the end of 2021.

Fireblocks

Headquarters: New York
Valuation: $8 billion USD
Operating Data: From January 2021 to present, the custody institution has increased from over 100 to over 1,200, with total custodial funds exceeding $260 billion USD
Co-founders: CEO Michael Shaulov and CTO Idan Ofrat.

Fireblocks is a professional cryptocurrency custodian institution with clients including New York Mellon Bank, decentralized lending platform Compound Treasury, and Aave Arc. In April last year, Firevblocks partnered with payment giant FIS to provide trading and lending services to over 6,000 users.