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Best Blockchain Infrastructure is a category within the BeInCrypto Institutional 100, an annual research-driven program recognizing institutional digital asset excellence across 26 categories and six pillars.
This category sits under Pillar 6: Tokenization & Enterprise Blockchain. The 15 chains and infrastructure firms below are listed alphabetically and are not ranked. A shortlist will be named in May 2026, with the winner announced at Proof of Talk in Paris on June 2–3, 2026.
Key Facts
- Long list: 15 firms across public Layer 1s, public Layer 2s, permissioned enterprise DLT, modular data availability, institutional middleware, and post-trade infrastructure.
- Initial pool: More than 30 blockchain infrastructure firms screened; 15 advanced to the long list.
- Order: Listed alphabetically, not ranked.
- Scoring: 50% quantitative data · 50% Expert Council.
- Criteria assessed: Institutional adoption, technical performance, developer ecosystem, security and uptime, compliance features, interoperability, TVL, and activity.
- Boundary scope: This category evaluates the chain or infrastructure layer itself, not the applications built on top of it.
| Ault Blockchain | Las Vegas, USA Ault Capital Group subsidiary of Hyperscale Data | Cosmos SDK with full EVM compatibility CometBFT consensus, 1-second blocks, EIP-1559 fee market, and KYC-verified DAO governance | Public testnet launched Feb 2026 under newly launched edge-case scoring Ault Markets StableShare SaaS planned for tokenized securities, real estate, and RWAs |
| Avalanche | New York, USA Ava Labs | Subnet architecture rebranded as Avalanche L1s Permissioned custom chains with compliance flexibility and sub-second finality | KKR private equity fund tokenized with Securitize JPMorgan Onyx, Citi, and Franklin Templeton have used Avalanche-linked institutional pilots or deployments |
| Base | San Francisco, USA Coinbase Inc. · NASDAQ: COIN | Optimistic rollup on Ethereum built on OP Stack Approximately $3B+ TVL; operated by Coinbase with native USDC and Circle Mint integration | Hosts most x402 agentic payment activity by Coinbase disclosure JPMorgan Kinexys JPMD tokenized deposit deployed on Base |
| Canton Network | New York, USA Digital Asset Holdings | Permissioned privacy-preserving DLT for financial services DAML smart contracts and super-validator model with protocol-level confidentiality | Broadridge DLR processes $1T+ monthly tokenized repo volume Goldman Sachs DAP, BNY fund administration, and Société Générale-FORGE issuance run on Canton-linked infrastructure |
| Celestia | Cayman Islands Celestia Labs | Modular data availability layer separating DA from execution Mainnet beta launched Oct 2023; backed by Polychain, Bain Capital Crypto, and Galaxy Digital | Powers modular chains including Eclipse, Manta, Movement, Initia, and Hyperliquid migration plans Supports purpose-built financial chains needing cheaper data availability |
| Chainlink | Cayman Islands Chainlink Labs | Oracle network and CCIP interoperability layer Approximately $20T+ in total value secured across institutional and DeFi integrations | SWIFT selected CCIP for cross-border interoperability DTCC Smart NAV and Sibos corporate-actions work expanded institutional use cases |
| DTCC | New York, USA Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation | World’s largest post-trade financial market infrastructure About $2.5 quadrillion annual settlement volume; Project Ion DLT clearing in production | Smart NAV with Chainlink distributes regulated fund data Broadridge DLR partnership supports tokenized repo infrastructure |
| Ethereum | Zug, Switzerland Ethereum Foundation | Largest public smart-contract network by TVL Pectra and Dencun upgrades improved account abstraction and L2 economics | Hosts major tokenized assets including BlackRock BUIDL and Franklin Templeton BENJI Primary issuance layer for Securitize, Ondo, Maple Finance, and other tokenization platforms |
| Hedera | Richardson, Texas Hedera Hashgraph | aBFT hashgraph consensus with EVM-compatible smart contracts Governing Council includes major corporates and financial institutions | Enterprise deployments include Coupon Bureau, Avery Dennison, ServiceNow, and DBS tokenization pilots Strong TradFi and enterprise council structure supports institutional credibility |
| Polygon | Bermuda / New York Polygon Labs | Multi-chain Ethereum L2 ecosystem Polygon PoS, zkEVM, Polygon CDK, and AggLayer architecture | Hosts Franklin Templeton BENJI, BlackRock BUIDL, Siemens digital bond, and Hamilton Lane tokenized private equity One of the most enterprise-adopted public chains after Ethereum |
| Provenance Blockchain | New York, USA Figure Markets · NASDAQ: FIGR | Purpose-built financial Layer 1 launched in 2018 OPEN equity network and YLDS yield-bearing stablecoin support financial workloads | More than $21B in HELOC loan originations on Provenance Figure Markets IPO validated the purpose-built financial L1 thesis |
| R3 Corda | New York / London R3 | Enterprise DLT framework launched in 2016 Permissioned architecture with 200+ institutional nodes and long production history | SIX Digital Exchange runs on Corda Tier-1 deployments include HSBC, Allianz, Wells Fargo, ING, BBVA, NatWest, and Bank of America |
| Solana | Zug, Switzerland Solana Foundation | High-throughput public Layer 1 with sub-second finality Approximately $8B+ TVL and second-largest stablecoin chain with about $12B+ stablecoins | Supported high agentic-payment and x402 transaction activity Pay.sh with Google Cloud launched May 2026; PayPal PYUSD and Visa settlement are live |
| VeChain | Singapore VeChain Foundation | Public enterprise Layer 1 with delegated PoS Hayabusa and Interstellar upgrades improved decentralization and EVM compatibility | Walmart China food traceability remains a long-running enterprise deployment DNV, BMW, LVMH, and BCG partnerships support supply-chain and sustainability use cases |
| XDC Network | Singapore XDC Network Foundation | Public enterprise Layer 1 with delegated PoS ISO 20022 alignment, XDC 2.0 consensus upgrade, and EVM compatibility | TradeFinex and Liqi support trade finance activity on XDC Partnerships include SBI Holdings, Deutsche Telekom, R3 Corda, Impel, and VERT Capital |
About This List
The BeInCrypto Institutional 100 — Best Blockchain Infrastructure (2026 Long List) identifies the chains and middleware on which institutional digital asset workloads run. This includes public Layer 1s, Ethereum Layer 2s, permissioned enterprise DLT frameworks, modular data availability layers, decentralized oracle networks, cross-chain interoperability systems, and post-trade financial market infrastructure.
This category does not score applications built on these chains. Enterprise deployments are evaluated under Category 6.1: Best Enterprise Blockchain Implementation. Stablecoin issuance and tokenization platforms are evaluated under their own dedicated categories.
Methodology
This category is evaluated under Track A of the BeInCrypto Institutional 100 methodology: 50% based on quantitative metrics and 50% on Expert Council scoring.
Assessment spans seven criteria: institutional adoption, technical performance, developer ecosystem, security and uptime, compliance features, interoperability, and TVL and activity.
Data was verified using DefiLlama, L2Beat, Etherscan, Solscan, chain-specific block explorers, Chainlink CCIP, Canton Network transaction logs, company filings, SEC EDGAR, regulatory registers, rwa.xyz, audited platform disclosures, third-party rating agencies, PitchBook, Tracxn, Crunchbase, and mainstream financial press.
Negative-signal scans for major protocol exploits, network halts, validator concentration, securities-classification flags, and parent-company enforcement were applied.
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