In today’s top 10 we are going to rank the ten most important and influential people in the world of cryptocurrency. The list is not only based on their current influence but also their potential and their accolades in the past. In the end, we also have a few honourable mentions of people that didn’t make the cut. This top 10 will be revised every year. But enough talk, let’s see who made it onto the list.

Podcast-host, tech entrepreneur, renowned writer and one of the biggest bitcoin-advocates in the entire crypto-sphere. With six books on cryptocurrency, including the bestseller ‘The Internet of Money’, Antonopoulos is a true expert on the subject. Being involved since 2012, Andreas is truly the biggest preacher of the bitcoin gospel.

Durov is the founder of a social network site called VK, but got widespread recognition due to Telegram. Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai Durov launched their app Telegram in 2013. As of today, the application has over 200 million monthly users and is the gathering hub for crypto enthusiasts. In 2018, Durov raised 1,7 billion dollars for his Telegram Open Network project, where he strives to connect his messaging service to its own blockchain.

The first anonymous person on this list, Brandon Chez is the creator of the popular website CoinMarketCap. In just a few years, the website has become the most visited cryptocurrency website worldwide and is a constant source of data and information. An addition or delisting on CoinMarketCap can have serious consequences on the market. For example, the website delisted the South Korean exchanges Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit without warning, causing the price of Ripple to decrease with 30%

Silicon Valley elite, an executive at PayPal and Facebook and crypto enthusiast from the first hour, David Marcus has made his way up the tech-ladder. That made him the perfect CEO for Facebook’s cryptocurrency project named Libra (now called Diem). Although in development limbo, the eventual arrival of the coin could have a significant impact on the entire market. At the helm of it all stands David Marcus.

Behind the scenes, the CEO of Ripple has been forging partnerships with companies such as Moneygram, Santander, PNC and American Express. Ripple wants to become the bridge between cryptocurrency and banks and Brad Garlinghouse is the one to actually realize it. Brad has held executive positions at AOL and Yahoo in the past.

Jack Dorsey is the creator of Twitter and also runs a payment service called Square. Most recently, Square made a 50 million dollar investment in bitcoin, praising the revolutionary monetary system. Dorsey has been a fan from the start, stating that blockchain will become ‘the next big unlock’ in 2017. As an enormous Bitcoin advocate, he has also added the bitcoin emoji to Twitter. Although Dorsey is not part of the crypto scene itself, his influence on the market is undeniable and could become even bigger as time progresses and social media becomes more important.

Co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys, Joseph Lubin has become an innovative force in the world of cryptocurrency. As a chief operating officer of Ethereum, Lubin’s work with smart contracts and the ERC-20 token system have laid the groundwork for so many cryptocurrency projects. On top of that, he is also the founder of ConsenSys. ConsenSys provides Blockchain solutions, financial infrastructures, informative events and is a start-up incubator in general. A true innovator in an already innovating world.

Changpen Zhao is the founder of Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Founded in 2017, it only took him three years to bring the company to the top of the hill while fighting extreme competition. Additionally, Changpen Zhao (also known as CZ) became something of a meme with his legendary words ‘funds are safu’ after Binance got hacked. Instead of rectifying himself he embraced the meme and became an important player with his online presence on Twitter.

Only 26 years old, the Russian programmer is known as the inventor of Ethereum and co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine. Being involved with Bitcoin since 2011, Vitalik can be seen as a true early adopter. As of today, Ethereum has become the steady number two crypto. But saying that ETH is just a number two is selling them short. With revolutionary smart contract protocol, ERC20 tokens, the launch of ETH2.0 and the Ethereum network in general, Ethereum has laid the groundwork for numerous projects. With his open mind and overall online presence, Vitalik has become more of a spokesperson of crypto itself. With the big plans of ETH2.0 in 2021, next year will be a pivotal moment for the young Russian.

Alright, some of you might find this first pick controversial. There are even some people that might dispute that Satoshi is even a real person. That doesn’t change the fact that Satoshi Nakamoto has had the biggest influence on the entire industry of cryptocurrency. Without him, this list probably wouldn’t have even existed. Even more so, Nakamoto’s animosity has made him a larger than life character. A mystery or a symbol that inspires people. His groundbreaking work, in combination with the inspiration that he has given people, makes Satoshi Nakamoto the undisputed number one on our list.

Honourable mentions: Roger Ver, Charlie Lee, Hall Finney, Gavin Wood, Carlos Mata and Elizabeth Stark

*The pictures above are from their respective Twitter accounts. All rights belong to Twitter and the users themselves.