Regulation
Fortune 500 companies are adopting blockchain
Coinbase recently released its “The State of Crypto” report for the second quarter of 2024, focusing specifically on Fortune 500 companies and blockchain.
The report, which is not surprisingly titled “The Fortune 500 Moving Onchain,” concludes that Fortune 500 companies in the United States are adopting blockchain technology, even as the country lags behind, for example, in regulation.
Fortune 500 companies and the growing use of blockchain
Fortune 500 is the list of the 500 largest US companies by turnover compiled and published every year by the famous Fortune magazine.
It should be underlined that the ranking is drawn up by turnover, and not by market capitalisation, so it is there in the first place Walmartfollowed by Amazon, then ExxonMobil with Apple only in fourth place.
At the end of 2023, when this ranking was compiled, the largest company in the world by market capitalization was Apple, because even though it was only fourth in terms of revenue, it was still in first place in terms of profits.
For example, Microsoftwhich is currently first in terms of market capitalisation, at the end of 2023 in the USA it was only thirteenth in terms of turnover.
If in first place is Walmart, with almost 650 billion dollars in turnover in a single year, in five hundredth place is OI Glass with 7 billion. Therefore, the revenue gap between the first and last Fortune 500 companies is almost a hundred times greater.
That’s why we sometimes distinguish between the top 500 list and the top 100 list, since the latter list ends with a company, Best Buy, that has a turnover of $85 billion, or more than ten times five cents.
Coinbase’s blockchain report on Fortune 500 companies
THE relationship “The Fortune 500 Moving Onchain,” conducted for Coinbase by The Block, reveals that 56% of Fortune 500 companies say they have blockchain-based projects underway.
That’s more than half of the companies, meaning that most of America’s top 500 companies by revenue are already working on blockchain projects, at every stage from concept to development.
However, this percentage drops to 39% when taking into account the increase in blockchain projects by Fortune 100 companies in 2023 compared to 2022.
Furthermore, 53% of small businesses have some knowledge of it cryptocurrencies53% would be looking for crypto-friendly candidates for finance, legal or technology roles.
Although it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from this data, the picture that emerges is that of a general interest among companies in the crypto and blockchain sector, although perhaps the greatest interest is found among smaller companies.
Despite this, Coinbase says major American public companies are still more engaged than ever in onchain.
Furthermore, it is highlighted that the increase in interest observed also highlights the urgency of clear rules for cryptocurrencies in the USA, to help retain developers and other talent within the national territory.
The political intent
It should not be forgotten that Coinbase, the main US crypto company listed on the stock exchange, has long been engaged in pro-crypto political lobbying activities with its initiative Stand with cryptocurrencies.
This report “The State of Crypto” seems aimed at supporting this campaign, as it highlights how there are many major companies in the US that are trying to innovate in the blockchain field, and that are being hindered or even hindered by the absence of clear regulation and specific.
In the EU, for example, clear and specific crypto regulation (so-called MiCA) was introduced this year, and in 2025 this could become a competitive advantage over the USA.
Coinbase’s goal is obviously to discourage the United States from falling behind, which is made clear within the same report by stating that clear and specific regulation could help the US maintain leadership in the crypto sector globally.
Future prospects
The report, however, also states that the biggest barrier to U.S. companies adopting blockchain is a shortage of talent, rather than a lack of regulation.
This necessarily implies that the USA as a whole returns to encouraging innovation starting from school courses, and in particular from university ones.
The only way to encourage the spread of professional interest in the crypto and blockchain sector from above is to encourage the multiplication of specialist degree courses in cryptotechnologies and innovative financial services, and this dynamic can only derive from political choices.
Companies are certainly already doing their part, but now it would be necessary for politics to do its part too.
At this point, the political intent behind Coinbase’s initiatives is even more evident, which not only aims to favor, obviously, its own business, but ultimately also the evolution of the US industrial fabric.
What Google has done in the last 25 years, Coinbase may try to do in the next 25.