By
Chimamanda U. Martha
February 7th, 2024
For BlockFi, being the best on the Inc. 500 list is a significant achievent, especially after all the challenges it has faced this year. Notably, it has been far ahead from the second company on the list, leading by more than 99,000% over the runner-up.
Inc., an American business magazine that mostly addresses all issues related to running a small business, has come up with a list of the fastest-growing private companies in 2022. Its Inc. 5000 list ranks all of the 6 million prfastestivately-held companies across the United States by their performance and overall revenue growth over a three-year period. In 2022, one of the best-performing companies on the Inc. 5000 list is BlockFi, a crypto lender that offers multiple financial products and services.
According to Inc. 5000, within the last three years, the revenue of BlockFi has rocketed, with growth of as much as 245,616% over the period considered. Notably, BlockFi has been far ahead of the second company on the list, leading by more than 99,000% over the runner-up. The latter is an Atlanta-based SnapNurse company that is transforming the way nurses are recruited.
Among the top ten companies on the list are CDL 1000, eTrueNorth, HighKey, Livingood Daily, Distributed Ledger, Homethreads, Hardbody Supplements, and Tax Releif Advocates. Notably, the average growth rate within three years has been as much as 230% across all 5,000 companies on the list.
To become a nominee for the Inc. 5000 list, a company has to file an application and pay a fee. This year, the fee ranged from $195 to $245, based on the date the application was submitted.
BlockFi’s Challenges
For BlockFi, being the best on the Inc. 500 list is a significant achievent, especially after all the challenges it has faced this year.
Following the crypto market crash and the crypto winter, BlockFi suffered tough liquidity issues. As a result, its investors were preparing to bear huge losses. In June, BlockFi decided to lay off about 20% of its employees (which is 170 out of its 850-man workforce) as a protective measure against the crisis. Besides, the company secured a $250 million loan from FTX.US exchange to maintain its operational efficiency intact. There were also rumors about the potential acquisition, with the deal in which FTX.US would provide BlockFi a $400M revolving credit facility to shore up its finances in the midst of market uncertainty.
Further, we reported that the Private Shares Fund slashed BlockFi’s valuations of its Series E warrants and preferred shares. Besides, it gauged the firm’s funds as worthless. With as much as $1.8 billion in outstanding loans for Q2 2022, BlockFi has found itself in a risky situation requiring immediate action. According to BlockFi, these loans were from institutional and retail investors. To manage liquidity risks, the crypto lender decided to retain in inventory at least 10% of total amounts due to clients, being ready to return the amount. In addition, BlockFi stated it would hold at least 50% of owed funds in places where retrieval would be easy.