Fortune debuts ‘Crypto 40,’ Ethereum takes top honors for protocol category

In what calls an industry first, Fortune released the 'Fortune Crypto 40' on April 10. This analytics-based list highlights five cryptocurrency companies in each of eight categories and relies on a combination of analytics and executive surveys to determine the winners.

Congratulations to the winners of the Fortune Crypto 40 – a list of the best companies in crypto based on data and reputation in eight categories.

The list is the first of its kind and recognizes crypto companies (and DAOs) built to last.https://t.co/e8WTwcZY9Y

—Jeff Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts) April 10, 2023

According to an article announcing the index, Fortune claims the Crypto 40 is a "definitive list of the top crypto companies." An attached link outlining the methodology goes on to state that Crypto 40 was designed to highlight organizations and their technology, as opposed to the popularity of the people and teams that power them.

“There are currently no such rankings for the crypto industry,” the Fortune staff write, “while there are many lists, nearly all reflect the subjective preference of a handful of publishers, with most focusing on personalities in business place. ”

Fortune Crypto 40 is divided into eight distinct categories: TradFi, CeFi, NFT, venture capital, data and analytics companies, infrastructure companies, blockchain protocol companies, and DeFi.

While the usual suspects are all there, with Coinbase, Binance and Kraken taking the top spots in CeFi, PayPal leading TradFi and OpenSea claiming number one in the NFT Rankingsthere are also some surprises among the list.

Surprisingly, Bitcoin (BTC) took a back seat to Ethereum (ETH) in the ranking of protocols with Polygon (MATIC) beating Solana (SUN) for third place. Elsewhere, Bitmain ranked third in the infrastructure race behind Ledger and Genesis Digital Assets ranked first and second, respectively.

The blockchain protocol companies category was not the only victory for Ethereum, as the five winners in the DeFi category are companies whose technology runs on the ethereum blockchain: Uniswap Labs, Lido, MakerDAO, Aave and Curve.

Related: Cointelegraph 100

While it's clear that the biggest and most successful companies take up the lion's share of the list, Fortune says it will pay more attention to crypto startups in later issues as they "disrupt and take crowns from complacent incumbents."