THE 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN CRYPTO.
The people you need to know about in crypto.
Vitalik Buterin
The creator of Ethereum, the blockchain platform that acts as a world computer for decentralized applications. Its cryptocurrency, Ether, has seen its value skyrocket in 2017 (Ethereum's market cap is nearly $30 billion). He cofounded Bitcoin Magazine and now leads Ethereum, working on upgrades to its protocol.
Charlie Lee
The creator of Litecoin, and formerly Coinbase's Director of Engineering. Although he is the creator of Litecoin, Lee remains focused on a number of Bitcoin-specific projects as well. Prior to Lee's forays into the world of cryptocurrency, he held various engineering positions at companies like Google and Guidewire Software.
Brian Armstrong
Brian is the co-founder & CEO of Coinbase, an open financial system and Bitcoin exchange for the world. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Rice University. He was also featured in the 2014 movie, "The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin".
Roger Ver
Roger is considered the world's first Investor in Bitcoin startups (including investments in Bitcoin.com, Blockchain.com, Z.cash , BitPay, Kraken & Purse.io). Ver's computer parts business, MemoryDealers, was one of the first online retailers to accept payment in Bitcoin, and he now speaks regularly at Bitcoin events worldwide.
Andreas M. Antonopoulos
Andreas is the author of "Mastering Bitcoin" and “The Internet of Money”, seminal books about why bitcoin matters on a global scale. Antonopoulos is also a public speaker at bitcoin events, and is frequently called in as an expert witness in trials relating to the security and technical details of crypto-currencies.
Nick Szabo
Nick is a blockchain and cryptocurrency pioneer. Szabo is widely regarded as the inventor of the concept of smart contracts, which are now a fundamental feature of cryptocurrencies. Szabo also is the creator of "bit gold", a decentralized precursor to bitcoin which informed the initial construction of Bitcoin's architecture.
Don Tapscott
Don is the co-founder and Executive Director at Blockchain Research Institute, which seeks to drive clear policy-making and governance of bitcoin. He is also the best-selling author of "Blockchain Revolution", a book on the numerous impacts that cryptocurrencies and blockchain will have on the world.
Gavin Andresen
Gavin is one of the original Bitcoin developers, having been appointed the lead developer on Bitcoin Core by Satoshi Nakamoto. A Bitcoin developer since 2010, Andresen founded the Bitcoin Foundation as a vessel for cryptocurrency advocacy, and has dedicated much of his time to that organization in recent years.
Jihan Wu
Thomas is a board member of 9Spokes, an open banking dashboard. Power is a cryptocurrency expert who has published 7 books and spoken at 1000 conferences and events across 56 countries. Additionally, Power is a board member or advisor to numerous Blockchain and Bitcoin-focused startups around the world.
Laura Shin
Laura is Forbes' senior editor of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology coverage, and is a co-lead reporter on the Forbes Fintech 50 list. She also hosts the crypto and blockchain podcast "Unchained". Shin holds a Masters of Arts from Columbia University's School of Journalism.
Thomas Power
Thomas is a board member of 9Spokes, an open banking dashboard. Power is a cryptocurrency expert who has published 7 books and spoken at 1000 conferences and events across 56 countries. Additionally, Power is a board member or advisor to numerous Blockchain and Bitcoin-focused startups around the world.
Eric Voorhees
Erik is the CEO of ShapeShift. Voorhees currently writes at MoneyAndState.com about the struggle for the separation of money and state, and about Bitcoin as the instrument by which it will happen. He is the co-founder of bitcoin startup Coinapult, and previously sold his startup Satoshi Dice for $11.5M in bitcoin in 2013.
Tyler Winklevoss
Tyler is the Principal of Winklevoss Capital and co-founder and CEO of Gemini, a next-generation digital asset exchange. Winklevoss has long been a bitcoin advocate and is widely noted for becoming the world's first bitcoin billionaire, on account of his initial $11M investment in the cryptocurrency in 2013.
Barry Silbert
Barry is the founder and CEO of DigitalCurrencyGroup, which builds and supports Bitcoin and blockchain companies. He is also an investor in numerous bitcoin and blockchain companies worldwide. Silbert also created the Bitcoin Investment Trust, which is the only public security whose value comes directly from Bitcoin.
Tuur Demeester
Tuur is the Editor-in-Chief at Adamant Research, which focuses on macro investment opportunities in the Bitcoin and blockchain space. He is an early investor in Bitcoin, and is a regular speaker at Bitcoin conferences around the world. He also cofounded the Belgian Rothboard Institute, an academic think-tank.
Vinny Lingham
Lingham is known as the "Bitcoin Oracle" on account of his highly accurate predictions around the pricing of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He is the founder of Civic, an identity management startup run on the blockchain. He was previously recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Charlie Shrem
Charlie is a co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, and is a controversial Bitcoin Evangelist. He helped found BitInstant, one of the earliest bitcoin startups, and has been an investor in Bitcoin since 2011. Shrem is now the Director of Community and Business Development for Shrem, a blockchain wallet startup.
Peter Todd
Peter is one of Bitcoin's most prominent open source developers, and is an applied cryptography consultant. Todd is an advocate for cryptocurrency, and is vocal about the need for more effective (yet flexible) governance of Bitcoin and other alt-coins in the years to come.
Adam Back
Adam is a cryptographer who is the inventor of Hashcash, the underlying technology behind a number of anti-spam softwares. Back is the co-founder/ CEO of Blockstream, which develops protocols for blockchain developers. He has a Computer Science PhD in Distributed Systems from the University of Exeter.
Tone Vays
Tone is the host of CrytpoScam Podcast. Days was previously a well-known derivatives trader on Wall Street, later was a VP at JP Morgan, and is now a blockchain consultant. He is also a regular contributor to The World Crypto Network. He was recently featured on the Bitcoin documentary, "Magic Money".
Jameson Lopp
Lopp is presently an engineer at BitGo and the creator of Statoshi.info, which displays bitcoin node stats in real time. He is also the organizer of Bitcoin SIG, a group of MENSA members who discuss bitcoin matters. Lopp also posts regularly on the Coindesk blog and other notable bitcoin publications.
Tim Draper
Tim Draper has been listed as #7 on the Forbes Midas List, and #98 on the 2014 Worth Magazine 100 Most Powerful People in Finance. Draper is the founder of DFJ Venture Capital, an advocate for blockchain technologies, and was an early investor in Bitcoin.
Jeff Garzik
Jeff is the co-founder of Bloq, an enterprise-grade blockchain startup. Bloq recently announced its own cryptocurrency, Metronome, which it hopes will eventually be run on multiple types of blockchains. Prior to Bloq, Garzik was the founder of Dunvegan Space Systems, a startup focused on enabling space infrastructure.
Bobby Lee
Bobby is the CEO and co-founder of BTCC, China's first bitcoin exchange. Lee has been involved with bitcoin since 2011, and envisioned BTCC as a full-stack solution for bitcoin in China - ranging from exchange functionality, to providing secure wallets to consumers. Prior to BTCC, Lee held a senior role at Walmart China.
Fred Wilson
He is a co-founder and managing partner at Union Square Ventures (a significant investor in Coinbase) and the founder of VC firm Flatiron Partners. As a vocal advocate for blockchain as a whole, Wilson writes regularly about cryptocurrencies, investing strategies, ICOs, and more at AVC.com.
Naval Ravikant
The AngelList co-founder and CEO is also an investor in Bitwise Asset Management, one of the first cryptocurrency index funds. As a proponent of blockchain, Ravikant is also providing capital and advisory services to blockchain startup Blockstack, which recently released its first decentralized browser.
Michael Arrington
Michael is the founder and former co-editor of TechCrunch. As a VC with a proven track record, Arrington is now the lead partner at Arrington XRP Capital, a $100M hedge fund based entirely on cryptocurrency. The fund will be denominated in XRP, the cryptocurrency that drives much of the startup Ripple's software.
Jon Matonis
Matonis is a bitcoin researcher and economist. He is presently the Founding Director and co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation. He is also the chairman of Globitex, a bitcoin and derivatives exchange. He is also a Board Member at First Global Credit, a cryptocurrency investment and advisory firm based in Geneva
Stephan Tual
Stephan is the co-founder of AtlasNeue and Slock.it, a blockchain infrastructure for the collaborative economy that's built on the Ethereum platform. Formerly, Tual was the CCO of Ethereum, and is universally regarded as an expert in the crypto and blockchain community. He was previously Managing Director at Ursium.
Jimmy Song
Song is a prominent blockchain developer and entrepreneur. He is also an instructor at Programming Blockchain, which helps talented developers learn how to code for the blockchain platform. He is currently a developer at Paxos, a fintech blockchain startup focused on automating post-trade settlements.
Chris Burniske
Chris is now a partner at Placeholder VC. Burniske previously led ARK Invest's cryptoasset and product development efforts, where he interfaced with press to ensure accurate reporting around cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets. He is also the author of "Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond".
Derin Cag
Derin is the co-founder of BlockchainAge, the global leader in blockchain research and consultancy. He is also the founder of online business magazine Richtopia, and the co-founder of Marketing Runners, a professional services firm. Additionally, Cag is a guest lecturer at the University of Monaco and the INSEEC Group.
Fred Ehrsam
Fred is previously co-founder of Coinbase, and is now working on building decentralized blockchain applications. Prior to his forays into the crypto world, Ehrsam was a trader at Goldman Sachs. He is an investor in crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Economics from Duke University.
Luke Martin
Luke is one of the most prolific and well-known cryptocurrency traders, and is best known for hosting Coin Chat, an informative YouTube series about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Martin also founded (and now runs) VentureCoinist, a crypto analysis and education website that is run on a membership basis.
Dinis Guarda
Dinis is the CEO of IntelligentHQ, a social business network. He is also the CEO of blockchain startup Humaniq, which aims to become a secure, decentralized banking solution for the 2 billion+ people in the world that don't yet have bank accounts. Guarda is a regular speaker at bitcoin-related conferences worldwide.
Michael Kitces
Michael is the publisher of the Nerd’s Eye View blog, which focuses on financial planning and has recently begun to delve into cryptocurrencies. Kitces is the Director of Research at Pinnacle Advisory Group, and is an advisor to a number of fintech startups. He holds master's degrees in Taxation and Financial Services.
Josh Olszewicz
Josh started investing in Bitcoin in 2013, and is now an advisor to Experty.io and AltCoinExchange. He is well-known for broadcasting detailed crypto technical analysis on his YouTube channel. Olszewicz also writes regularly on bitcoin finance site BraveNewCoin.com, and is an adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University.
Joseph Lubin
Joseph is the co-founder of Ethereum, and the founder of ConsenSys, a blockchain app development firm. Lubin also helped to set up the non-profit Ethereum Foundation and VC fund ConsenSys Ventures, which invests in decentralized blockchain applications. Lubin holds a B.S. in Engineering from Princeton University.
Ari Paul
Ari is the CIO of cryptocurrency hedge fund BlockTower Capital. Prior to his time in the crypto space, Paul was a portfolio manager for the University of Chicago's endowment, as well as a derivatives trader. He is interviewed about his views on crypto regularly by publications like BusinessInsider and Forbes.
Ryan Selkis
Ryan was the Managing Director at CoinDesk, a site providing the latest news, analysis, and insights in the cryptocurrency and blockchain spaces. Prior to CoinDesk, Selkis was the Director of Growth for Digital Currency Group, an investment firm focused on the crypto space. He holds an MBA from MIT School of Business.
Joey Zhou
Joey wrote the first node implementation of Ethereum, and also made significant contributions to the development of the geth, go-ethereum, and cpp-ethereum protocols. He is a managing partner at consulting firm Cyborgenic, which focuses on fintech innovations. He is also an active angel investor and startup advisor.
Brock Pierce
Brock is the co-founder of Blockchain Capital, a venture capital company that invests in blockchain related startups (such as EOS and Tether). He is the Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, and also runs one of the top AngelList syndicates. He also speaks at numerous blockchain events and conferences around the world.
Spencer Bogart
Spencer is currently the Head of Research at Blockchain Capital, one of the first funds focused solely on blockchain technologies. He formerly was the VP of Equity Research at Needham, where he led the firm's research on blockchain technologies. He holds a BS in Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara.
Michael Novogratz
Michael is presently an investor and the CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, which makes investments in emerging blockchain startups. Novogratz was formerly a principal and member of the board of directors of Fortress Investment Group LLC, and was the Chief Investment Officer of the Fortress Macro Fund.
Da Hongfei
Da is the co-founder of blockchain group NEO, formerly known as AntShares. He is also the founder and CEO of OnChain, one of China's most innovative blockchain technology firms. Through OnChain, Da is collaborating with the Chinese government on establishing blockchain technology standards that will apply across the country.
Willy Woo
Willy is a data-driven cryptocurrency analyst and bitcoin investor, writing primarily for his blog, Woobull. He writes regularly about cryptocurrency as an investment for publications like Forbes, CoinDesk, and BraveNewCoin. Woo also speaks regularly about bitcoin at conferences and events around the world.
Gav Wood
Gav is the founder of Parity Technologies, which develops cutting-edge blockchain applications. Most notably, Wood was one of the co-founders of Ethereum, having coded its first functional implementation. He is also the co-founder of Grid Singularity, which aims to develop a decentralized energy management platform.
Nicolas Cary
As the President and Co-Founder of Blockchain.com, Cary travels the world to connect with the bitcoin community and be an evangelist for the story of Blockchain. As an active philanthropist, Cary executed the world's first University donation in Bitcoin. Cary is also an active investor in cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Eric Lombrozo
Lombrozo is the co-CEO and CTO of Ciphrex Corp, a provider of enterprise-grade software specialized in the cryptographic transaction processing (CTP) space. Before his time at Ciphrex, Lombrozo was the founder of cryptocurrency startups CoinSurge and RingCoin. Lombrozo is also an active contributor to Bitcoin Core.
Vlad Zamfir
Vlad is part of the Ethereum Development Team and is an analytics consultant at Burson-Marsteller. Zamfir is known for his active involvement in the Ethereum community, as well as his consistent research in the blockchain technology space.
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