U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea are among the top 10 breakthrough companies of 2022, according to startup accelerator Y Combinator.
The top crypto-related companies on the list rounded out the top 5, with Coinbase ranking fourth and OpenSea fifth.
The pair were only beaten by the likes of payments firm Stripe, which claimed the top spot, and delivery companies InstaCart and DoorDash, in second and third place respectively.
According to the startup accelerator, the list is made up of “high-growth companies that have received significant additional investment or more in funding from YC.”
Coinbase prepares for the Merge
The U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange recently announced several developments it would undertake in light of Ethereum’s upcoming merge. Coinbase said that it would add support for Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) on the Ethereum network (ERC-20 token).
In this instance, the key feature is that cbETH can be sold, transferred, and spent, as staked ETH is currently locked until the Shanghai protocol upgrade is complete. The cbETH tokens can be moved to a wallet outside of Coinbase and traded from there.
Earlier, Coinbase said it would pause ETH and other ERC-20 token transactions during the upcoming Ethereum merge as a precautionary measure, to ensure that their systems properly reflect all changes introduced by the merge.
Notably, Coinbase partnered with the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, earlier this month. The collaboration will enable institutional clients of BlackRock to have direct access to cryptocurrencies by bridging its end-to-end investment management platform, Aladdin, with Coinbase Prime.
OpenSea sinking
Meanwhile, the world’s largest NFT market has been sailing in rather choppy waters. In June, one of its former employees was accused of insider trading.
Later, the company was forced to reduce its workforce by 20%, which OpenSea co-founder Devin Finzer announced on his Twitter account. While the company still retains relative dominance among NFT marketplaces, trading volumes have diminished significantly over the course of the past year.
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