Five Most Innovative Crypto, Blockchain, Metaverse, and Web3 Companies of 2024
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Every year, Fast Company magazine presents its impressions of which companies are, in fact, the most innovative in crypto, blockchain, metaverse and Web3. In this way, it works as a guide between what is just a quick trend and what really makes a difference in the market.
This selection involves several other industries. Specifically regarding the Web3 ecosystem and its branches, the magazine highlighted, in 2024, companies that have been maturing and showing concrete results, beyond the hype.
In addition, it highlighted companies that continue to surprise the market with their inventiveness. Below, learn about the 10 companies chosen by Fast Company in its most recent ranking.
1. Roblox
Roblox successfully combines gaming and the metaverse while adapting to new audiences and demands. It was precisely for contributing to the maturation of the metaverse that the company made Fast Company’s list.
The virtual platform has more than 70 million daily active users worldwide. This is a loyal audience, which spent no less than 16 billion minutes on Roblox during the third quarter of 2023. In other words, this represents a 20% increase compared to the same period last year.
Another indication of success is the fact that creators working on the platform reached US$839.5 million in sales in the first months of 2023.
This is due, in short, to the construction of new tools and policies that help developers create more engaging experiences, for an audience that is reaching new demographics.
Last year, for example, Roblox allowed creators to offer more mature content to users who are old enough to consume it. In addition, the platform expanded the creation of expressions for avatars, the resources to animate them and elements to customize each one’s style.
2. Securitize
The company has stood out for digitizing and democratizing private markets. Securitize began providing individual access to investment products by tokenizing them on the blockchain network. In this way, it facilitated access to more traders, democratizing the financial sector and expanding the growth of funds.
Last year, the company became the first brokerage to offer tokenized financial markets and fixed income products to individual investors, allowing them to trade these products.
Additionally, the company acquired Onramp Invest, a digital platform for registered investment advisors, adding to a client base with over $40 billion in assets.
According to Securitize, the company has more than 500 thousand investors on its platform.
3. Coinbase
While last year was marked by some upheaval among crypto exchanges, Coinbase stood out in a positive way. The company saw its shares rise by 400% and, most importantly, became the first crypto exchange to operate its own blockchain.
As a result, this opens up new revenue opportunities while also fostering innovation in the crypto space that doesn’t rely entirely on market speculation, as Fast Company points out. This has been made possible by the launch of Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based blockchain that facilitates third-party applications.
Additionally, Coinbase has also gained traction amid Bitcoin ETF regulation . According to Fast Company, 9 out of 12 financial services firms that applied to have a Bitcoin ETF in the United States stated in their applications that Coinbase would be their preferred custodian.
Coinbase has gained support from companies like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton and WisdomTree to handle the expected surge in trading volume and keep those funds safe.
4. Visa
Rather than being eclipsed by new payment methods, Visa embraced decentralization and helped popularize blockchain technology for financial transactions. This was one of the arguments presented by Fast Company for including the company in the list of the most innovative in the crypto sector. According to the magazine, Visa has started to act as a bridge between DeFi and TradFi.
Last September, for example, Visa implemented faster payments through the Solana blockchain platform. The company facilitated thousands of transactions, reducing exchange rates and blockchain transaction costs for users.
Additionally, Visa has also brought a Bitcoin rewards program to Latin America by expanding its relationship with the Fold startup. Visa is offering Fold users the option to earn bitcoins when paying with their debit card (instead of, for example, compensating them with miles and points).
Additionally, Visa has been working with governments around the world on the process of creating digital currencies for each country’s central banks.
5. Chainalysis
Among the actions that led Chainalysis to stand out is, for example, the tracking of crypto wallets linked to the illegal sale of medicines and the collaboration with legal authorities to identify and detain criminals.
Providing training to government officials on blockchain and how they can monitor and apprehend criminals on the network is one of the company’s main roles.
Another example of the company’s work in this regard was its participation in the criminal investigation into Gary James Harmon, who was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing Bitcoin from crypto wallets that had been confiscated for money laundering.
To see Fast Company’s full list of the 10 most innovative companies in crypto, blockchain, metaverse, and Web3 in 2024 (and other industries as well), click here.
