The cryptocurrency and blockchain space is filled with amazing individuals. However, we have decided to pick out the greatest CEO’s of active cryptocurrency and blockchain projects. The CEO’s named below, are the most powerful and influential leaders and we believe they are invaluable to the cryptocurrency space. The list is in no particular order.
Justin Sun
The only 27 years old tech visionary is the founder and CEO of TRON, a blockchain-based and decentralized open-source platform for the digital entertainment industry. Sun is on the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list and has been called the next Jack Ma by Forbes. At the age of 26, Justin Sun was personally invited by Jack Ma to become one of the first students of Hupan University. The university was founded by Jack Ma and there were less than 40 students accepted. Apart from that, Justin Sun is the CEO of Peiwo, one of the largest voice live streaming platforms in China, which he created in 2015 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the chief representative and advisor at Ripple. What Justin Sun has achieved at the age of 27 is incredible. He is considered as being one of the most talented and powerful individuals in the cryptocurrency space.
Vitalik Buterin
Vitalik is a 24 years old Russian-Canadian programmer and the “boy genius” behind Ethereum. He got involved with bitcoin in 2011 and he co-founded Bitcoin Magazine, an online news website. When he was only 19 years old, he conceived the idea for Ethereum which is currently the world’s second-most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. In 2014, after he received the Thiel Fellowship, a fellowship by Peter Thiel that gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom, he dropped out of the University of Waterloo and went to work on Ethereum full-time. Vitalik’s estimated crypto net worth is between $400mln-$500mln according to Forbes. He is considered as one of the most influential people on the planet and he recently made the 30 under 30 finance list by Forbes. Vitalik has also co-authored a few books about blockchain technology and bitcoin. He is one of the most recognized people and has achieved superstar-status in the cryptocurrency space.
Changpeng Zhao
Changpeng Zhao aka CZ is the founder and CEO of Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. He is 41 years old and was born in China, but emigrated to Canada as a kid. After studying computer science and working as a successful developer for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bloomberg’s Tradebook, he decided to start his Fusion Systems in Shanghai, a high-frequency trading systems manufacturer for brokers. In 2013, he learned about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He worked closely with other well-known crypto fanatics like Roger Ver and Ben Reeves. Eventually, he decided to create a trading platform without any connections to financial institutions, which led to the creation of Binance. After Binance generated $1b in investment funds and went live, it quickly surpassed Coinbase and other exchanges, resulting in Binance becoming the number one cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. His success has made him a fortune and he is currently the 1.650th richest person in the world, according to Forbes. Besides creating the most popular crypto exchange, he is also known for being very transparent when it comes to Binance. Recently, a phishing attack on Binance’s users took place, and CZ quickly informed the community about what had happened. Because of his immense market influence and success, he deserves a spot on this list.
Charlie Lee
He is the creator of Litecoin, a global decentralized currency based on blockchain technology. Charlie Lee is a former MIT graduate and Google Software Engineer. In 2011, he became interested in bitcoin and blockchain technology. With advanced degrees in Computer Science and working as a Software Engineer, he decided to create his own cryptocurrency. His first attempt to create a cryptocurrency, called Fairbix, failed. However, after learning from his previous mistakes, he quickly launched Litecoin. In 2013, he left his job at Google to work on newly created Coinbase as their Engineer Manager and later Director of Engineering, but when Litecoin exploded in popularity in 2017, he left Coinbase to work fulltime on Litecoin. Then in December 2017, Charlie Lee announced in a Reddit post that he had sold all his Litecoin holding. He felt it was a conflict of interest for him to hold Litecoin, because he had too much influence on the price. The crypto community has many different opinions when it comes to Charlie Lee, but no one can argue that he is a well-known and powerful CEO, and with more than 736 thousand followers on Twitter, he is also one of the most influential people in the cryptocurrency space.
Bradley “Brad” Garlinghouse
Brad is the CEO of Ripple, the world’s only enterprise blockchain solution for global payments. He is a Harvard Business School graduate and a Silicon Valley veteran. From 2003 to 2012, Brad held various executive positions at Yahoo! and AOL. After leaving Yahoo! and AOL, he became CEO and Chairman of Hightail. He eventually left Hightail, and in 2017 he became the CEO of Ripple after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer for almost 2 years. Ripple the company is the owner of XRP, which is currently the third most-valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. According to Forbes, Brad has a 6.3% stake in Ripple the company and a crypto net worth between $400mln and $500mln. As acting CEO of the third biggest cryptocurrency and his impressive achievements in the past, Bradley Garlinghouse had to be included in this list.
Charles Hoskinson
He is the CEO of IOHK, an engineering company that builds cryptocurrencies and blockchains for academic institutions, corporations and government entities. In 2013, Hoskinson quit his job to launch an online school; the Bitcoin Education Project. At the online school, Hoskinson met Vitalik Buterin, the boy behind Ethereum, and Hoskinson became one of the eight original co-founders of Ethereum. However, they could not agree on how to structure the project, resulting in Hoskinson leaving Ethereum in 2014. Shortly after, he was approached by former Ethereum colleague Jeremy Wood to start a new project called IOHK. Their key project is Cardano, a public blockchain and smart contract platform currently ranked sixth in terms of market capitalization. IOHK is also running Ethereum Classic, another big cryptocurrency project. Because of his previous success in founding cryptocurrency related start-ups, he is one of the most recognized and influential leaders in this space.
Honorable mentions
Shingo Lavine
He is the only 20 years old founder and CEO of Ethos formerly known as Bitquence. Their mission is to build a financial ecosystem that is open for everybody. In 2017, Lavine funded Bitquence with his gains from investing in bitcoin and other alternative coins. Bitquence quickly grew in popularity after the rebrand to Ethos. Since then, Lavine has become a well-known leader in the cryptocurrency space, and some people even predict him to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Because of his incredible achievements at only 20 years old, Shingo Lavine is expected to become one of the greatest and most successful individuals in the cryptocurrency space.
Richard Ells
He is a coder, programmer, hacker, developer, designer and the founder and CEO of Electroneum, a mobile cryptocurrency. He has more than 19 years of experience in the digital space and as an entrepreneur. He was the technical director of SiteWizard Ltd and director of Retortal.com before founding Electroneum. Richard Ells is recognized in the cryptocurrency industry and has a history of launching successful digital businesses.
