Most influential people in the cryptocurrency industry
The launch of Bitcoin back in 2009 has paved the way for the birth of other cryptocurrencies in the world. Fast forward to today, the coin is now the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and is used by many people as a means of exchange.
Another reason why the world’s digital gold is popular is that it’s introduced by individuals who became big names in crypto. These personalities further pushed Bitcoin in the scene, which made it even more recognized across the world.
Nakib Bukele
One of the most significant moments in the crypto industry that has happened in the past year was when El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The announcement was made on September 7th of 2021 and was promoted by none other than the president of the country himself, Nakib Bukele. By 2021, El Salvador can rely on Bitcoin as an eligible form of payment alongside the US dollar.
Aside from being the nation’s leader, President Bukele is a technophile, which explains his familiarity with crypto. However, this decision wasn’t made just for show or because digital currencies are gaining traction. President Bukele made this decision because he aims to bring more El Salvador citizens who currently don’t own a bank account.
Changpeng Zhao
One of the most important factors to consider in the crypto industry is finding a reliable exchange site. Thankfully, Changpeng Zhao’s creation of Binance gave traders a way to buy and sell their tokens securely and conveniently and today, it’s the leading platform based on user volume.
Moreover, Zhao’s creation of a reliable trading platform allowed millions of traders who own different tokens to transact with each other. This is thanks to the platform’s support of 300+ crypto tokens which can create over 700 crypto pairs. Zhao was also praised as Binance made it possible for traders to send and receive funds with lesser fees.
Aside from creating the leading crypto exchange site, Changpeng Zhao also contributed to the industry by developing trading software within his most notable works being with Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bloomberg.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
As different cryptocurrencies continue to soar in popularity and demand, another digital asset called non-fungible tokens or NFTs have been continuously gaining traction over the past year.
Some various artists and developers create and sell NFTs but one of the biggest names that are currently making rounds in the market is the Bored Ape Yacht Club or BAYC. Their influence on the NFT market is evident as their Bored Ape collections are instantly recognizable and are now some of the most valued to date. These developers helped put NFT on the map thanks to these unique artworks which served as modern-day collector’s items.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club has created a total of 10,000 NFT collections and it’s massively popular today to the point where the cheapest one is worth 52 ETH which is equal to $194,000. On the other hand, the most expensive BAYC NFT that has ever been sold was worth 769 ETH or $2,900,000.
Vitalik Buterin
Vitalik Buterin is dubbed by some as the most influential person in the cryptocurrency industry and for good reasons. One of his biggest contributions was co-founding the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization ETH, and its network Ethereum.
The Ethereum blockchain helped pave the way for Decentralized Finances (DeFi) smart contracts by allowing public creation and maintenance of digital ledgers. It’s safe to say that the mainstream fame that these two industries have today wouldn’t be possible without the use of Ethereum’s blockchain.
Buterin has also proven to provide solutions to problems regarding the Ethereum network when he and his team released Ethereum 2.0. This update aimed to solve the problems that users were experiencing regarding the network’s scalability issues.
Moreover, the local token of the Ethereum blockchain, ETH, comes in as a close second to Bitcoin in terms of popularity and market capitalization. As of writing, ETH has a 24 hr trading volume of $15,425,572,338 and a market cap of 286.798B. Additionally, the current circulating supply for this token is 119.29M.
This huge contribution to the crypto industry helped propel Buterin to be one of the youngest crypto billionaires. However, aside from that, Vitalik also lends his skills to the Bitcoin community as both a writer and developer.
Sam Bankman-Fried
A graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sam Bankman-Fried made an impact in the cryptocurrency industry by inventing the Alameda Research and FTX exchange. Both of which play an important role in the crypto market today.
Starting with Alameda Research, this quantitative trading firm is responsible for providing liquidity to various crypto markets around the world. This makes it easy for users to buy and sell cryptos easily because orders will be filed faster.
As for his creation of FTX exchange, it’s one of the most successful exchange sites today with a recorded average trading volume of $10 billion. The site is marketed to be built by traders and for traders. This means that it has all the features that a trader may want from an exchange site including low fees and up to 101x leverage.
These contributions led Bankman-Fried to be worth $8.7 billion at just 29 years of age which also means that he’s the wealthiest crypto billionaire today. Bankman-Fried recently made headlines when he donated a whopping amount of $5,000,000 to the presidential campaign of Joe Biden last year.
Invest in cryptocurrency today!
These are some of the big names in crypto today. Given the advancements of the crypto industry thanks to these influential people, it won’t hurt to start investing in these digital assets yourself! The possibilities for this technology are endless and who knows, maybe your name could be displayed alongside these people in the future!