Chainalysis, Fireblocks, and Gauntlet have been included in Forbes’ list of the top 50 fintech companies for 2024.
“Only three [firms] from the blockchain sector, recovering from major scandals and bankruptcies, were included. These are startups aimed at building a more reliable and secure infrastructure for the future,” the publication noted.
Journalists highlighted that overall funding for fintech projects fell from a record $141 billion in 2021 to $75 billion the following year and $39 billion in 2023.
Chainalysis
Headquartered in New York, the company specializes in blockchain forensics, using on-chain data to track transactions and identify fraud, hacks, and illegal activities involving digital assets.
The startup was founded in 2014 by Michael Gronager, a PhD in quantum mechanics and co-founder of the crypto exchange Kraken, who serves as the firm’s CEO.
According to Forbes, over 70% of Chainalysis’ business currently comes from the public sector, with nearly 300 clients in 60 countries.
The project monitors the activities of North Korean hackers and terrorist groups, as well as the overall state of the crypto industry in cybersecurity. The company also trains law enforcement on interacting with new technologies.
In 2023, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division announced a collaboration with Ukrainian authorities and Chainalysis to track Russians evading sanctions using cryptocurrencies.
The startup has raised a total of $535 million in funding. In May 2022, the company closed a Series F funding round of $170 million, valuing it at $8.6 billion.
Fireblocks
The New York-based company develops blockchain-based software for large institutional firms and financial institutions such as BNY Mellon, BNP Paribas, and eToro.
Since 2018, Fireblocks has been providing crypto custody services, but in 2023, the company entered the tokenization market by acquiring the startup BlockFold.
In total, the firm serves 35 banks, working on proprietary stablecoin projects with 10 of them. According to the publication, since its inception, the project’s infrastructure has supported over 170 million wallets and transactions exceeding $4 trillion.
Fireblocks has raised a total of $1 billion from Spark Capital, Cyberstarts, Coatue, and others. In January 2022, it was valued at $8 billion.
The company’s CEO is Michael Shaulov, who previously founded the cybersecurity startup Lacoon Mobile Security.
In June 2023, Ethereum firm ConsenSys announced the integration of the institutional version of the MetaMask wallet with Fireblocks. In August, Fireblocks also joined Mastercard’s partner program to explore CBDCs.
Gauntlet
Another New York-based cryptocurrency startup, Gauntlet, aims to assist DeFi projects. Gauntlet provides decentralized services with tools to optimize key protocol parameters, including capital efficiency, risk, fees, and rewards.
The company’s main product, Gauntlet Risk, is software for monitoring and assessing transaction security, used by some DAOs.
Gauntlet supports 36 blockchains, with nine major protocols as clients. Approximately $9 billion in assets are under the startup’s direct protection.
According to information on the website, the company’s services are used by Compound, Aave, Balancer, SushiSwap, and other well-known platforms.
In March 2022, the project raised $23.8 million in a Series B funding round led by Ribbit Capital, valuing Gauntlet at $1 billion.
The company’s co-founders are CEO Tarun Chitra, CTO Ray Cheng, and COO John Morrow.
In June 2023, Forbes included five cryptocurrency projects in the top ten most innovative private companies in the fintech sector. The list featured Stripe, Ripple, Blockchain.com, OpenSea, and Alchemy.