Bitcoin and the technology underlying it, are no longer just the realm of technology nerds, traders and idealists. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are being embraced by hundreds of big institutions and corporations. So far this year, payments giant Square has invested $50 million in bitcoin, and at least 20 institutional investors have so far filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing their own investments. But cryptocurrency is just one application of blockchain, scores of companies are now using the technology to improve their business processes.
To track this rapidly changing landscape Forbes is now accepting nominations for its annual Blockchain 50 list from companies based anywhere in the world. The only requirements are the company has to be a billion-dollar enterprise and be doing meaningful work in any application of blockchain, including finding new ways to streamline business processes, eliminate inefficiencies, reduce fraud or just make an old-fashioned investment in a new form of money.
Past list members include Facebook, which joined the Blockchain 50 list in its inaugural year, before its plans to launch a new currency, called Libra were public. Long before Square made its historic investment in bitcoin, the payments company founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey made the list for some of its early exploratory investments in lightning, a payments network designed to make it faster and cheaper to use bitcoin to buy things. Other Blockchain 50 companies include energy giant Royal Dutch Shell, auto giant Daimler, and the second largest bank in the world, China Construction Bank.
2021 Forbes Blockchain 50 list candidates are asked to fill out this nomination form in as great detail as possible before Friday, November 6. That’s in three weeks, and the competition to be included is already ramping up. Given the complexity of building blockchain applications, which rely on a distributed, shared infrastructure, advanced prototypes with engaged industry participants can qualify a list member. But increasingly, the list members are launching live blockchain applications tracking real-value in new ways.
Once the nomination period ends, a team of Forbes staff reporters with specialties in a wide variety of industries will sort through the nominees, looking for the most mature blockchain programs run by the most talented teams in the world. Winners are expected to be revealed in a 2021 magazine issue, and online.
If you think you know a company with the chops to make the cut, please read the more detailed criteria here, and fill out the list by November 6.