Most powerful and influential people in the crypto industry who can turn the market upside down within minutes.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has overturned the tables, perhaps irreversibly. And as the years advance, the craze seems to be turning into a wilder ride that looks like everything but stoppable. And while the concept of decentralized money where no one dictates the wealth flow is itself revolutionary, it is the giant crypto influencers who have driven the wave of industry’s popularity. These crypto influencers are actually the most powerful people in the world of blockchain and while they endorse DeFi to you, they themselves have made billions out of it.
These influential crypto tzars are diverse — they are politicians, CEOs, entrepreneurs, developers, artists and the list can go on. As diverse are their tools of influencing the market — tweets, administrative policies, holding the supply of tokens and even changing the ethos of their traditional companies to drive frenzy.
The obsession with cryptocurrency is driving unchecked among masses and these 11 most powerful people in the industry are behind the hype —
Sr. | Name | Company |
---|---|---|
1 | Elon Musk | CEO of Tesla |
2 | Vitalik Buterin | Founder of Ethereum |
3 | Nayib Bukele | President of El Salvador |
4 | Changpeng Zhao | CEO of Binance |
5 | Brian Armstrong | CEO and Founder of Coinbase |
6 | Michael Saylor | CEO of MicroStrategy Inc. |
7 | Barry Silbert | Founder and CEO of DCG |
8 | Sam Bankman-Fried | Founder of FTX |
9 | Jack Dorsey | Founder of Twitter Inc. |
10 | Kris Marszalek | CEO of Crypto.com |
11 | Jed McCaleb | Founder of Stellar |
How many crypto billionaires are there?
As listed by Forbes, there are currently seven crypto billionaires in the world. These are Changpeng Zhao, Sam Bankman-Fried, Brian Armstrong, Fred Ehrsam, Vitalik Buterin, Chris Larsen, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Jed McCaleb.
11 Most Powerful People in Crypto Industry Driving Market Pace
1/11
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
If you were not expecting this one, you are probably living under the rock. One doesn’t even need to be a crypto enthusiast to know how Elon Musk has manipulated markets with his tweets and company policies. It is probably understatement to call Tesla CEO a crypto influencer.
For the major part of 2021, he has been the single handed driving force of the entire crypto industry whose one tweet could swing investors into desired mass action.
Musk has been an active advocate of Bitcoin and Dogecoin for a long time. His plans to accept Bitcoin as the legitimate payment mode for Tesla shot the prices off the chart. He himself invested $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency. Consequently, his single tweet informing investors of withdrawing the decision.
SpaceX founder followed a similar trajectory with the meme token Dogecoin, manipulating the market upside down.
Is Elon Musk using Dogecoin?
Elon Musk has been a strong promoter of Dogecoin. In 2021, he announced that his companies SpaceX and Tesla were holding the meme token in the significant quantity. In the recent wake of events, Musk has announced that Tesla has begun accepting Dogecoin for the sales of Tesla merchandise.
2/11
Vitalik Buterin, Founder of Ethereum
Founder of Ethereum is leading the future of decentralization revolution in true sense. Vitalik Buterin is the youngest crypto billionaire in the world and is at the helm of blockchain future as he is transforming industry with energy-efficient Proof-of-Stake model (PoS) also called Ethereum 2.0. Currently Ethereum is running on the Proof-of-Work model.
If you are well updated about the blockchain industry, you would know the significance of Ethereum. From NFTs to metaverse, Ethereum blockchain is the fundamental block of everything decentralized.
With PoS model, Vitalik is walking the industry towards sustainable future which is the biggest demand of the time.
What is Vitalik Buterin working on now?
After successfully creating the revolutionary blockchain technology Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin is now working on creating Ethereum 2.0. The new project is the transition of Poof-of-Work model to Proof-of-Stake model. This system will cut down carbon emissions in the process of Ethereum mining by whopping 99%.
3/11
Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador
President of El Salvador brought the major revolutionary moment in entire lifetime of Bitcoin. In 2021, Bukele became the first head of state to adopt Bitcoin as the legal tender of a nation. El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt cryptocurrency as national currency, pushing other nations like Paraguay and Ukraine to exploring similar options too.
The country now owns more than 1,300 Bitcoins and further aims at building a Bitcoin city against IMF’s warning to drop BTC as a legal tender.
How much has El Salvador lost in Bitcoin?
The country under Nayib Bukele’s leadership continued to hoard Bitcoin even when it hit the highest ever $69,000 price mark. However, the cryptocurrency has lost as much as 40% since then, therefore, spelling stark losses for the nation too.
4/11
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance
The crypto billionaire and CEO of Binance, CZ needs no introduction. Heading the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Zhao is among the richest self made billionaires of the world. Binance reached $2 trillion worth trading volume in 2020 and the numbers have been growing ever since. Its cryptocurrency Binance Coin (BNB) is now the third largest by market cap in the world.
However, despite being one of the most powerful people in crypto, Chinese-Canadian crypto tzar finds him in turf with regulatory authorities globally. Binance has achieved meteoric rise in trade volume due to lack of screening criteria for listing tokens, allegedly leading to money laundry and illicit transactions.
How much is CZ from Binance worth?
According to the recent data by Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Changpeng Zhao, often called CZ, is worth close to $96 billion. However, the figure is highly likely to be an underestimation.
5/11
Brian Armstrong, Founder and CEO of Coinbase
Another name that is prominent to the world of DeFi, Brian Armstrong is the Founder and CEO of Coinbase. Started in 2012, Coinbase is retail investors’ leading choice for trading cryptocurrency in North America and elsewhere. Armstrong owns 19% stake in the company that is worth around $10.4 billion as of Jan 2022. As of Jan 3, 2022, Coinbase was worth a whopping $65.96 billion in market cap.
Brian Armstrong worked at Airbnb as a software engineer before starting Coinbase with his co-founder Fred Ehrsam. Ehrsam left the company in 2017 but Armstrong continued to lead the vision, listing the company public on April 14, 2021.
How much of Coinbase does Brian Armstrong own?
Founder and CEO Brian Armstrong owns 19% stakes in the company Coinbase. The company went public in April 2021, hitting $100 billion in market cap.
6/11
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy Inc.
Saylor is probably the most ardent supporter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to make it to the headlines. CEO of MicroStrategy Inc. carved an unexpected and new path for the company in 2020 when it started acquiring Bitcoin in an unprecedented quantity. He began with a stirring investment of $250 million in the cryptocurrency giving the excuse that it was to strategize cash holdings in balance sheet wisely.
However, with time, Saylor emerged as the leading proponent of Bitcoin and by Dec 2021, MicroStrategy was sitting on $3.5 billion worth of Bitcoins. Majority of this investment came in when prices were significantly plummeting. As of Dec 2021, the stocks of the company spiked by staggering 337% due to its Bitcoin strategy, making Saylor a billionaire with $2.2 billion in net worth.
How many Bitcoins does Michael Saylor personally own?
MicroStrategy Inc. holds massive amount of Bitcoin, however, CEO Michael Saylor also boasts of an impressive personal crypto portfolio. Saylor owns cost to 17,000 BTC amounting to roughly $866 million.
7/11
Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO of DCG
Barry Silbert is the Founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, the parent company of Grayscale, CoinDesk, Genesis, Luno and Foundry. With $1.6 billion in net worth and a vision to shape the global financial system of the future, Silbert is a serial crypto entrepreneur, seeking to pioneer every corner of the industry.
Silbert is rightly termed as “The King of Crypto” because of his more than 100 investments in Bitcoin and blockchain driven ventures. He has also founded an ETF to track the price movement of Bitcoin, making him one of the most powerful people in the crypto world.
How much is Barry Silbert worth?
According to Forbes, CEO of DCG Barry Gilbert is worth around $1.9 billion in net worth.
8/11
Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder of FTX
Counted among the richest crypto billionaires with $26.5 billion in net worth, Sam Bankman-Fried is the Founder of FTX and trading firm Alameda Research. The MIT graduate identifies himself as an altruist more than an entrepreneur and lives by the moto “earning to give”.
The biggest sources of Bankman-Fried’s rapid billionaire status are FTT tokens and his company FTX. FTX went on to raise whopping $900 million from SoftBank and Coinbase Ventures and others in 2021, making him one of the youngest billionaires in the industry.
Sam Bankman-Fried made headlines in 2020 when he donated $5 million to the presidential campaign of the U.S. President Joe Biden.
How old is Sam Bankman-Fried?
Founder of FTX and one of the most powerful people in the crypto industry since a very young age, Sam Bankman-Fried, also called SBF, is 29 years old. He was born on March 6, 1992.
9/11
Jack Dorsey, Founder of Twitter Inc.; Founder and CEO of Block
While talking about the most influential people in the cryptocurrency industry, one cannot miss out the Founder of Twitter Inc. and Square, Jack Dorsey. Dorsey has long been a proponent of DeFi, reflecting the same in his policies at both Twitter and Square.
In Oct 2020, Dorsey called Bitcoin “the best cryptocurrency” and his company Square went on to invest a whopping $50 million in BTC.
A report in October 2021 revealed that Square, now Block, is sitting on the pile of as many as 8,027 Bitcoins. Dorsey is a staunch believer of the possibility that cryptocurrency will soon replace dollar.
In 2021, Jack Dorsey decided to step down from the position of Twitter Inc. to pursue his passion for crypto full time through his fintech venture Square that changed its name to Block.
What does Jack Dorsey think about Bitcoin?
Twitter Founder has openly expressed his strong faith on Bitcoin from time to time. At Bitcoin conference in Miami in 2021, Dorsey said, “I don’t think there’s anything more important in my lifetime to work on, and I don’t think there’s anything more enabling for people around the world.”
10/11
Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com
CEO of Crypto.com Kris Marszalek is undoubtedly among the most powerful people in the cryptocurrency industry. The crypto exchange platform supports not just investing in cryptocurrencies but also NFT, staking, wallet service and more.
In 2017, he raised $26.7 million through first coin sale of his crypto debit card and payment platform Monaco.
Founded in 2016, the company went on to be rebranded as Crypto.com and it now provides card services in more than 100 countries around world.
Is Crypto.com a Chinese company?
Crypto.com is not a Chinese company. The company is based out of Singapore with more than 10 million users worldwide.
11/11
Jed McCaleb, Founder of Stellar
Jed McCaleb entered the crypto scene and made waves before it was cool. In 2010, McCaleb founded world’s first major crypto trading platform called Mt. Gox that he sold one year later. He went on to found Ripple in 2012, however, stepped down from the venture again due to disagreement with other co-founders.
He owned 9 billion XRP tokens even after stepping down from Ripple, which is reported to be his major source of earnings. Out of these 9 billion XRP, Jed McCaleb still holds 3.4 billion.
Another feather in hat is McCaleb’s latest venture that he is still associated with- Stellar. Stellar was founded in 2014 as a competition to Ripple and it aims at pioneering industry through speedy cross-border payments.
How many XRP does Jed McCaleb own?
McCaleb presently owns around 3.4 billion XRP. He was one of the founding members of Ripple and originally owned 9 billion XRPs out of which 3.4 billion remains today.
The post 11 Most Powerful PEOPLE In Crypto appeared first on DKODING.
from https://www.dkoding.in/newsline/11-most-powerful-people-in-crypto/
via Dkoding RSS Feed
No comments:
Post a Comment