Forbes Blockchain 50 2022

Cryptocurrencies hog the spotlight, but blockchain’s biggest innovations are below the surface, saving billions each year for the world’s largest companies.

_{Edited by}_{Michael del Castillo}_and_{Matt Schifrin}

_{Reported by}_{Maria Abreu}_,_{Nina Bambysheva}_,_{Justin Birnbaum}_,_{Lauren Debter}_,_{Michael del Castillo}_,_{Steven Ehrlich}_,_{Chris Helman}_,_{Katie Jennings}_,_{Jeff Kauflin}_,_{Javier Paz}_,_{Jon Ponciano}_,_{Marie Schulte-Bockum}

You’ve come a long way, blockchain! Since our inaugural roundup of the Blockchain 50, published in 2019, the billion-dollar companies (minimum, by sales or market value) on our annual list have moved beyond test projects and now rely on “distributed ledger” technology to do serious work. A lot of the action is in the back office, verifying insurance claims or facilitating real estate deals. It has also become vital to supply chains, whether checking the provenance of conflict minerals like cobalt or tracking auto parts for Renault. Nearly half of the Blockchain 50 are based outside the United States; 14% are Chinese. New this year: venture capital firms, which as a group invested more than $32 billion in the sector in 2021.

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether grab all the headlines, especially after booming last year and then losing more than $1 trillion in value since November. But in many ways, speculative cryptocurrencies are the least intriguing blockchain application. The most lasting impact will come as more and more multinationals integrate blockchains into their daily operations, unleashing untold efficiencies.

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Adobe

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA

In October 2021, the company that makes Photoshop and the keeper of the PDF format launched Content Attribution, which lets creators export their images directly to certain nonfungible-token (NFT) exchanges: KnownOrigin, OpenSea, Rarible and SuperRare. The feature lets artists protect their work against fraudulent claims by irrefutably proving their provenance before “minting” them as NFTs ready for auction. The service will eventually be available to all of Adobe’s 20 million Creative Cloud subscribers.

BLOCKCHAIN PLATFORM: Ethereum

KEY LEADER: Will Allen, VP at Adobe overseeing its Content Authenticity Initiative

Allianz

MUNICH, GERMANY

The insurance giant ($164 billion, 12-month sales) uses blockchain to streamline cross-border auto insurance claims in Europe. Different teams and incompatible databases used to mean lots of back-and-forth emails. Claims could take months to settle. Now there’s a single source record of each claim. Processing time has been reduced to minutes, and costs have fallen 10%. So far it’s being used by 25 Allianz subsidiaries to settle 850,000 claims.