The Blockchain 50: The top blockchain companies of 2022

CB Insights has unveiled the second annual Blockchain 50 — a list of the top private companies applying or analyzing blockchain technology to solve business or consumer problems across various industries. These companies are innovating to push blockchain and crypto toward greater adoption and product maturity.

The 2022 Blockchain 50 cohort has raised $17.1B in aggregate funding across 216 deals since 2016 and includes startups at different investment stages of development, from early-stage companies to well-funded unicorns.

The companies were selected by CB Insights’ Intelligence Unit from a pool of over 3,000 companies, including applicants and nominees.

They were chosen based on several factors, including data submitted by the companies, company business models and momentum in the market, and Mosaic scores, CB Insights’ proprietary algorithm that measures the overall health and growth potential of private companies. 

Clients can access the entire Blockchain 50 list and interactive Collection here. (If you don’t have a CB Insights login, create one here.)

Want to be considered for future rankings? Fill out this initial application form (it’ll take no more than a few minutes). If selected, you’ll be asked to complete our Analyst Briefing Survey so our analysts can better understand your products, customers, and market traction.

The market map above categorizes the Blockchain 50 companies based on core area of focus. Categories are not mutually exclusive.

Eligibility requirements for this year’s list include private companies that have raised equity funding and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that have raised capital through public or private token sales. The list excludes companies that have gone public via IPO or SPAC merger (as of 2/23/22). It also excludes companies that have been acquired, holding companies, and investment firms.

Table of contents

• Top Blockchain Companies 2022: Blockchain 50 Investment Highlights
• The 2022 Blockchain 50 Categories & Most Well-Funded Startups
• Previous Winners & Highlights From The 2020 Blockchain 50

TOP BLOCKCHAIN COMPANIES 2022: BLOCKCHAIN 50 INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Unicorns: 31 of the 50 companies (62%) are valued at or above $1B as of their latest funding round.
• Funding trends: These 50 companies raised $13.2B in equity funding in 2021 across 83 deals (excluding token sales).
• Mega-rounds: In 2021, there were 41 mega-round ($100M+) equity investments to this year’s Blockchain 50, nearly half of the total deal count.
• Stage trends: 18% (9) of the 2022 Blockchain 50 are early-stage startups, where their latest funding round was an incubator/accelerator, angel, seed, or Series A round. 58% (29) are mid-stage (Series B or C) companies, 16% (8) are late-stage (Series D+, corporate minority, or growth equity), and 8% (4) last raised unattributed rounds.
• Global representation: This year’s winners are based in 15 countries, with 44% of the companies based outside of the US. After the US (28 companies), the UK is home to the second most Blockchain 50 companies (5), followed by Canada, France, Singapore, and Switzerland (all at 2).
• Category distribution: The top blockchain category by number of winners is infrastructure & development, with 8 companies (16%). Next is exchanges with 7 (14%), and then custody & wallet services and NFTs & gaming are tied with 6 (12%).
• Top investor: Coinbase Ventures is the most active investor in this year’s Blockchain 50, having invested in 16 of the 50 companies. Andreessen Horowitz is second with 14 companies.
• Top deals of 2021: FTX and NYDIG both raised $1B rounds in 2021.
• Most well-funded: FTX is the most well-funded company on the Blockchain 50 list, having raised approximately $1.8B of disclosed funding across 8 rounds since 2019.

Clients can access all 50 companies on the CB Insights platform here. 

THE 2022 BLOCKCHAIN 50 CATEGORIES & MOST WELL-FUNDED STARTUPS

PREVIOUS WINNERS & HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2020 BLOCKCHAIN 50

• Unicorns: 14 of the 2020 Blockchain 50 (28%) remained or have since become unicorns with a $1B+ valuation.
• Exits: 2 have gone public (Bakkt and Coinbase) and 5 have been acquired.
• Deals, funding, and mega-rounds: In 2021, the 2020 Blockchain 50 raised $4.7B in equity funding across 32 deals, including 17 mega-rounds.

If you want to learn more about the Blockchain 50 Class of 2020, check out the full list of last year’s winners and see where they are now.