Fortune Crypto 40 List Raises Eyebrows Over Methodology

Fortune has published a list of its top crypto companies, but in the first-of-its-kind list has drawn backlash from the community.

Fortune, known for its lists such as Fortune 500 that ranks the U.S.’s largest companies by revenue, has published Crypto 40 – the firms it claims matter most in crypto.

The ranking consists of the top five organizations in eight categories.

• Centralized Finance (CeFi) – Coinbase
• Traditional Finance (TradFi) – PayPal
• Venture Capitalist (VC) – Polychain Capital
• Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – OpenSea
• Data – Chainalysis 
• Infrastructure – Ledger
• Decentralized Finance (DeFi) – Uniswap
• Protocols – Ethereum Foundation

Fortune: “Rigorous Qualification Criteria“

Fortune claims to have used a rigorous methodology for each category. It explains, “The decision to create separate categories instead of a single list reflects the fact that crypto is a diverse industry, and that it’s hard to find common metrics to weigh the relative importance of a crypto exchange versus a traditional finance company versus a DeFi project.”

The publisher used “an array of empirical metrics, coupled with surveys of more than 200 financial executives conducted by Researchscape.”

But Why Coinbase Over Binance?

The emphasis was also given to the openness or ongoing regulatory scrutiny against the companies. For example, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange based on trading volume, lost its first spot in CeFi to Coinbase.

Fortune explains, “It slid in our ranking because of its legal troubles and lack of transparency about its reserves and business operations.”

The U.S. Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) has accused Binance and its top executives of insider trading and breaking trading and derivatives rules. The company has also lost its derivatives license in Australia.

The Misfortune Crypto 40?

However, the Binance supportive community members have questioned the methodology of Fortune for placing Coinbase above Binance. A Reddit user, “kazwetcoffee,” wrote, “Coinbase above Binance should tell you how flawed their methodology is.”

Another user, “marekt14,” writes, “Also, I agree with all, but CeFi feels fabricated. Sure, Coinbase is nice and all, but I can’t really say it’s the best.”

A Reddit user has criticized the list as a whole. They believe, “During a bear market, it will be renamed to ‘The Misfortune Crypto 40’.”

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