In this age of the internet, the “influencer” has become a vital part of market sentiment across many business segments. Patronage of a business can sometimes be attributed to the fact that a famous man or woman is interacting with the business. From fashion to hospitality and even fast food chains, people seem to want to follow the advice of famous people. With social media having such a huge impact in the world today it is now easier than ever to follow the leading and direction of these influencer figures. The world of cryptocurrency is no different as there are a number of influencers who shape investor sentiment in the crypto market.
Influencers are people who are able to get others to engage with a business simply by virtue of their pedigree in the market niche or in society. Their opinions and sentiments are generally held in high regard and they are able to influence (pardon the obvious) the general majority. In the cryptocurrency space, these influencers are CEOs of major crypto-based businesses, developers, creators, bloggers etc. Over the years, these individuals have managed to establish themselves as prominent figures in the cryptocurrency space. Many subscribe to their blogs, follow them on social media and keep up to date with all of their latest comments. Below are 5 of the most popular cryptocurrency influencers.
Nick Szabo
There are some who till this day still vehemently claim that Nick Szabo is in fact, the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto; the creator of Bitcoin. Throughout the early period of the Bitcoin revolution, the then-fledgling crypto community was rife with the assertion that Nick Szabo was the anonymous Bitcoin creator. However, Nick has always denied the claim.
Nick Szabo is a colossal figure not just only in the cryptocurrency community but also for his work in cryptography and digital currency in general. The coinage of the term “smart contract” is attributed to him. Smart contracts are a central part of the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. His digital currency “bit gold” was in many ways a precursor to Bitcoin. Though it was never implemented, bit gold shared a lot of similarities with the core protocols on which Bitcoin is built on.
A graduate of computer science from Washington University, he is a consummate expert in cryptography, blockchain programming language, and cryptocurrency architecture. Such is his influence in the Ethereum community that the developers named a subunit of ether in his name. 1 Szabo is one-millionth of an ether.
Juthica Chou
Juthica Chou is the Co-founder and President of LedgerX, a Bitcoin futures trading platform. she graduated from MIT with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science. She spent the better part of her pre-cryptocurrency career as a trader at Goldman Sachs. She worked with the firm for 6 years before establishing LedgerX with her husband, Paul who was also her colleague at Goldman Sachs.
With CFTC approval received by the company in July of last year, Juthica is at the forefront of improving the mass adoption of Bitcoin trading in the mainstream financial market. With her experience in Wall Street, she is creating an environment that allows the inflow of more institutional money into the Bitcoin trading arena.
Barry Silbert
Barry Silbert is the Founder and CEO of DCG (Digital Currency Group) which is heavily involved in seeding and investing in blockchain-based enterprises. The company also manages crypto investment portfolios for a number of clients. Apart from his involvement in DCG, Barry is also the Founder and CEO of Grayscale Investments as well as being involved in CoinDesk and Ethereum trusts.
A graduate of Emory University with a degree in Finance, Barry holds substantial investments in Bitcoin and more than 100 other altcoins. He remains an important figure when it comes to knowing which altcoins are worth investing in. He regularly shares his insight into the altcoin market on a regular basis via his Twitter account.
Erik Voorhees
Erik Voorhees is one of the earliest adopters of cryptocurrency. Since as early as 2011, Erik has been involved in the market. He has been voted as one of the most influential figures in the cryptocurrency and blockchain community by many leading publications in the space. Starting his cryptocurrency journey as the Head of Marketing for BitInstant, he then Co-founded Coinapult in 2012 and ShapeShift in 2014. These days, he is the CEO of ShapeShift, a company reputed to being the provider of the quickest cryptocurrency swap platform in the world.
Erik relishes sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience. He graduated in 2007 from the University of Puget Sound with a BA in Business Leadership and Political Economics. Erik’s twitter feed is a veritable goldmine for useful information on many matters that concern the crypto and blockchain tech industry.
Tim Draper
Tim Draper is a renowned VC and angel investor. He is the founder of Draper Associates which specializes in seed-stage investment in “extraordinary projects.” Tim has been an avid participant in the crypto space. He bought 3,000 Bitcoin after US Marshalls shut down the notorious Silk Road platform.
Tim is something of a lucky charm for ICOs as his association with any ICO often leads to a successful crowdfunding exercise. He backed the Tezos project in 2017 that raised over $200 million. He also supported and invested in the Bancor project which raised over $150 million. Tim has also been vocal in calls for the SEC to provide a favorable regulatory framework for ICOs and cryptos in general.
Via his twitter feed, Tim is known to provide useful information about opportunities and risks in the cryptocurrency market. He generally has a knack for identifying worthwhile altcoin projects.
The cryptocurrency market is still for all intents and purposes a growing market. However, there are individuals who have managed to develop a keen sense of insight into the market and are able to shape the focus of investor sentiments. These influencer figures play a pivotal role in how the market moves and can be good avenues for information and guidance. Like all other financial markets, timely and accurate information is of paramount importance.
Apart from the aforementioned influencers, there are also individuals like Roger Ver, Catheryne Nicholson, Andreas Antonopoulos, Elizabeth Stark, Marc Andreessen, Fred Ehrsam, and Ben Horowitz just to mention a few.
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