Top 100 Metaverse and Web3 Influencers in 2023
Changpeng Zhao, often referred to as 'CZ', is the mastermind and CEO of Binance, which has become a giant in the cryptocurrency landscape, offering a variety of market solutions. Born in China in 1977, Zhao has an extensive background in tech and finance.
Kristin Smith is a prominent business leader in the U.S. and the founding executive director of the Blockchain Association, an influential trade group based in Washington D.C. that focuses on matters related to blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
At just 29 years old, Sam Bankman-Fried is at the helm of FTX, the fourth largest cryptocurrency exchange worldwide by trading volume, while also leading Alameda Research, a crypto market-making firm. His journey to such heights began from humble beginnings.
Anatoly Yakovenko is a key figure behind the Solana blockchain project. This Russian software engineer not only co-founded the initiative but also penned its white paper. With a passion for technology sparked at the tender age of five in the Soviet Union, Yakovenko eventually made his way to the United States to further his ambitions.
Originating from Maryland, Barry Silbert is a noted entrepreneur who earned his finance degree from Emory University's Goizueta Business School in 1998. Before pivoting to the cryptocurrency realm, he commenced his career in investment banking and sold his trading platform, Second Market, to Nasdaq in 2015.
Renowned across the digital art landscape, Mike Winkelmann, often recognized as Beeple, creates a diverse array of visual content, including graphics, short films, and immersive experiences for both virtual and augmented realities.
CryptoPunks: A Pioneer in the NFT Space on the Ethereum Blockchain
Elon Musk, the innovative force behind Tesla and SpaceX
Dawn Song, Co-founder and CEO of Oasis Labs
Esteban Ordano, a key player in Decentraland's development
Joseph Goguen, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley
Andrew Bragg, Senator for New South Wales, Australia
In 2019, Andrew Bragg was elected to represent New South Wales as a senator and is known for his outspoken support for cryptocurrency. He is often recognized as one of the more progressive voices within the Australian Liberal Party.
Anthony Scaramucci is a high-profile American political consultant best known as the White House's communications director for a brief stint in 2017. Growing up in Port Washington, New York, in a modest Italian-American household, he began working at the age of 11. He pursued a degree in economics at Tufts University before attending Harvard Law School, where he earned his law degree.
Hailing from Russia, Anton Bukov is both an entrepreneur and a software developer who co-founded 1inch Network in 2019 after developing a keen interest in blockchain advancements and cryptocurrencies.
Emilie Choi, President and COO of Coinbase
Based in New York, computer engineer Hayden Adams founded the decentralized exchange Uniswap. After graduating, he started his career as an engineer at Siemens, but after a year was laid off. His journey into the world of cryptocurrency began serendipitously when he stumbled upon a Reddit post by Vitalik Buterin in 2017.
Devin Finzer serves as the CEO of OpenSea, which developed into a prominent platform for NFT creation and trading by 2021. The Ethereum-based marketplace was co-established in 2017 by Finzer alongside Alex Atallah.
Vitalik Buterin, a pioneer in the Ethereum Ecosystem
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Socios.com and Chiliz.com (CHZ)
Cathie Wood, the Founder and CEO of Ark Invest
Cathie Wood is well-known as the founder and CEO of Ark Invest, an investment management firm that oversees a suite of exchange-traded funds. Gaining recognition in 2020 as the best stock picker according to Bloomberg’s chief news editor Matthew Winkler, she holds a B.S. in economics and finance from the University of Southern California.
Charles Cascarilla co-founded and currently leads Paxos, a regulated blockchain technology enterprise that facilitates asset exchange, holding, and tokenization in the cryptocurrency space. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Notre Dame and is a licensed financial analyst.
Kain Warwick, the Australian mastermind behind the Synthetix stablecoin project
Kerry Wong, Leading Investor Relations at Pantera Capital
Kerry Wong currently leads investor relations at Pantera Capital, a significant player in cryptocurrency investment. She previously held a similar role at Scalar Capital and has a rich background that includes experience at Millennium Trust and Barclays Capital. She started her career in Citibank’s capital markets, focusing on sales and trading.
Peng Zhong, the driving force behind Ignite (formerly Tendermint)
Arianna Simpson, Investor and Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
In a twist of fate, two aspiring authors crossed paths at a Miami nightclub, never anticipating that their collaboration would lead to the creation of a renowned NFT collection now valued in the billions. Debuting in 2021, this collection of 10,000 uniquely styled cartoon apes drew inspiration from the punk music and hip-hop cultures of the late 20th century.
You can check out our carefully curated selection of the most influential figures in the Metaverse, NFTs, and Web3 on Metaverse Post.
Changpeng Zhao, the visionary behind Binance and its CEO
Kristin Smith, Executive Director of the Blockchain Association
Anatoly Yakovenko, a Russian computer engineer, is a co-founder of Solana. He authored the Solana white paper and developed a passion for computers from the age of five while in the Soviet Union. Eventually, he moved to the United States to pursue his dreams.
Barry Silbert, the Founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group
Barry Silbert, born in Maryland, is a successful entrepreneur with a degree in finance from Emory University's Goizueta Business School, which he completed in 1998. Initially, he sought a career in investment banking before transitioning into the cryptocurrency realm by selling his trading platform, Second Market, to Nasdaq in 2015.
Michael Winkelmann, widely recognized in the digital art world as Beeple, specializes in creating various forms of digital content, including graphics, short films, visual loops, and immersive experiences for both virtual and augmented reality.
Elon Musk, the mastermind behind Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company
Dawn Song, an Entrepreneur and CEO of Oasis Labs
Esteban Ordano, along with Ari Meilich, launched Decentraland but after Meilich's departure to establish Big Time Studios in April 2020, Ordano transitioned from his role as CTO to a consulting position as the platform evolved into a DAO. Both Ordano and Meilich are software developers from Argentina with diverse experiences in the crypto landscape.
Charles Hoskinson, a Hawaiian software developer and co-founder of Ethereum, introduced the Cardano blockchain in 2017. Since its inception, Cardano has garnered support from a dedicated community aiming to create a comprehensive ecosystem for cryptocurrencies.
In 2019, Andrew Bragg was elected as a senator for New South Wales and garnered a reputation as a supporter of cryptocurrency. He is recognized as one of the more progressive figures within the Liberal Party in Australia.
A Russian entrepreneur with a strong passion for blockchain, Anton Bukov co-founded the 1inch Network in 2019, marking his entry into the world of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance.
Emilie Choi is a dynamic entrepreneur and key figure in the crypto space, known for her leadership at Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. She started her journey there in early 2018 as VP of Business and Data and has since climbed the ranks to become the president and COO. Choi holds an economics degree from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sandeep Nailwal, a Delhi-based software engineer, has been with Computer Sciences Corporation since 2010. In 2014, he became a consultant with Deloitte, focusing on management consulting and program management. He also served as the Chief Technology and Supply Chain Officer for the Welspun Group from 2015 to 2016.
Vitalik Buterin, born in Russia in 1994 and raised in Canada, is one of the leading figures behind Ethereum and its cryptocurrency, Ether. He naturally gravitated towards computers and technology from a young age, becoming interested in Bitcoin in 2011 during its early development phase.
A talented entrepreneur in technology, Alexandre Dreyfus is the driving force behind the success of Socios.com and Chiliz.com, both of which make significant strides in the entertainment and esports industries.
As the founder of Ark Invest, Cathie Wood leads a firm that manages various exchange-traded funds and has gained prominence within the investment community. In 2020, Matthew Winkler, chief news editor at Bloomberg, honored her as the best stock-picker of the year. Wood earned her bachelor's degree in economics and finance from the University of Southern California.
Co-founding the regulated blockchain technology company Paxos, Charles Cascarilla helps businesses in the cryptocurrency sector exchange, hold, and tokenize their assets. He possesses a Bachelor of Business Administration from Notre Dame and is a certified financial analyst.
Kerry Wong, Investor Relations Head at Pantera Capital
Once known as Tendermint, Ignite focuses on developing blockchain software, with Peng Zhong serving as its CEO. The company is mainly aligned with the Cosmos network, which operates using the native coin ATOM. Zhong, who initially joined Ignite as chief design officer in 2015, is also recognized for creating Voyager, the first cryptocurrency wallet for Cosmos, which was later rebranded as Lunie.
Arianna Simpson is a prominent American entrepreneur and investor, currently serving as a general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. She holds dual degrees in Spanish and international politics from Pennsylvania State University's Schreyer Honors College and began her technology career with global marketing solutions at Facebook in 2013.
Cobie is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency Twitter sphere and the broader crypto community. Previously known as 'Crypto Cobain' on Twitter, he rebranded his identity in 2021.
Adrian Zduczyk created the brand and social media name 'Crypto Birb,' as detailed on his LinkedIn profile. With his Polish roots, he is affectionately referred to as CryptoBirb or simply Birb within the crypto community.
Cynthia Lummis, a Republican operative from Wyoming, has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates for cryptocurrencies in the halls of Congress.
Do Kwon, a South Korean entrepreneur in the cryptocurrency arena, gained fame as the co-founder of Terraform Labs in early 2018, where he also holds the CEO title. Terraform Labs operates the Terra blockchain ecosystem, primarily supported by its native currency, LUNA. A Stanford University alumnus, Kwon is proficient in various programming languages including C++, Java, and Python.
Joe DiPasquale leads BitBull Capital, a firm specializing in Bitcoin hedge funds, and he co-founded StartOut, a nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs to foster the next generation of business leaders.
Kieran Warwick, a pivotal figure behind the open-world blockchain RPG Illuvium, is notably the brother of Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix. Kieran’s entrepreneurial journey saw him become the youngest franchisee of Harvey Norman in Australia and launch The Burger Collective, an app dedicated to community-driven food reviews.
Mark Cuban gained fame as a prominent investor on the reality TV show Shark Tank, where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their businesses for investment. He also owns the NBA team Dallas Mavericks and heads 2929 Productions, a film and television production company.
Andre Cronje is a skilled programmer renowned for his work on Yearn.finance and Keep3rV1. His portfolio includes significant contributions to other popular DeFi platforms such as Cream v2 and Sushiswap. With over two decades in software development, Cronje is also an experienced software architect who completed a three-year computer science program in just five months and subsequently lectured at a Computer Training Institute.
Jack Dorsey is a notable American entrepreneur and the co-founder, as well as the former CEO, of Twitter.
Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum, has also established ConsenSys and serves as its chairman.
Joseph Lubin spent his formative years in Toronto before attending Princeton University. His career trajectory began as a software engineer and consultant at the intersection of cryptography, engineering, and finance, ultimately ascending to vice president of technology at Goldman Sachs in private wealth management prior to launching his own hedge fund.
Erik Tristan Voorhees, who possesses both American and Panamanian heritage, previously directed marketing for the BitInstant exchange and co-founded Coinapult—an SMS and email money transfer service for Bitcoin. He also created and partially owned the popular Bitcoin gaming site Satoshi Dice before selling it in mid-2013. Voorhees has lived in various locations, including Colorado, before engaging with the Free State Project, and has since resided in cities like Dubai and New York.
Kathleen Breitman, a seasoned professional from the finance sector, co-founded the Tezos Foundation with her husband, Arthur Breitman, two years after the initial white paper was released in 2014. With a degree in financial mathematics from NYU, she currently leads Dynamic Ledger Solutions, the company responsible for developing the first version of the Tezos platform.
Pat Duffy and Alex Wilson founded The Giving Block in 2018 to enable nonprofit organizations to raise donations in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The duo discovered that cryptocurrency donations were taxed similarly to stocks when Bitcoin prices spiked in late 2017, which meant that contributions in appreciated cryptocurrencies to charities could be exempt from capital gains tax.
Michael Egorov is both a physicist and a scientist, having received his education from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Gavin Wood, a computer scientist, played a pivotal role in the creation of the initial version of the Ethereum network alongside Vitalik Buterin and others in 2014. However, he left in 2016 to launch Ethcore, a company that develops customer-focused Ethereum software. Currently, he holds the position of chief web officer at Parity Technologies.
Layne Lafrance is a Canadian entrepreneur whose childhood involved living and studying in London. She then returned to Canada, where she obtained her finance and entrepreneurship degree from the University of British Columbia, sparking her interest in technology.
Mark Yusko is an established American financier and hedge fund manager who is a strong advocate for Bitcoin. He is best known for co-founding Morgan Creek Capital Management. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology and chemistry at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in 1985, later earning an MBA in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago.
Masayoshi Son is the chairman and CEO of Softbank Group Corp.
Mike Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital.
Meltem Demirors is the chief strategy officer at CoinShares.
Robert Leshner is the founder and CEO of Compound Labs.
Located in San Francisco, Robert Leshner is an entrepreneur and innovator who co-founded Compound in 2017, a leading DeFi protocol for Ethereum-based money markets. He is a chartered financial analyst and has an economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Roneil Rumburg is a staunch advocate for censorship-resistant technology and believes in the potential of technology to liberate individuals from centralized control. His passion for cryptocurrencies and blockchain led him to establish Audius, a decentralized music streaming platform designed to empower artists.
Sebastien Borget describes himself as a father and a seasoned entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in mobile gaming and startup development. He is an enthusiastic advocate for non-fungible tokens in gaming and is dedicated to advancing blockchain education.
Stani Kulechov leads Aave and ETHLend. He possesses profound knowledge of the blockchain and fintech sectors as an experienced entrepreneur. In addition, he mentors many blockchain project founders and has been a speaker on Ethereum smart contracts at numerous fintech and crypto conferences.
Operating under a pseudonym, Rekt Capital specializes in cryptocurrency analysis, delivering macro research, insights, and technical evaluations of crypto markets. He offers a newsletter and educational courses aimed at empowering traders with the knowledge to make educated choices when dealing with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, and various altcoins.
Sergey Nazarov, who is the son of Russian immigrants and a co-creator of Chainlink, has stirred discussions in the cryptocurrency community. Many speculate that he could potentially be Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.
Under the guidance of Steven Kokinos, Algorand represents a groundbreaking public blockchain that embraces a permissionless structure while utilizing a proof-of-stake approach for consensus. The platform's native digital currency is called ALGO. Additionally, Kokinos is notable as the co-founder and leader of Fuze, which integrates numerous communication solutions—like video conferencing, voice calls, SMS, and more—into a single cloud service.
Vanessa Grellet is a notable veteran in the financial technology space, with almost twenty years of experience spanning financial services, regulatory frameworks, and advanced technological initiatives. She serves as the co-founder and head of portfolio growth at CoinFund.
Bob Loukas is well-known for his cycle trading methodologies, particularly his \"four-year cycle\" concept in Bitcoin. If you've delved into this theory, chances are you've encountered Loukas' influential work. He has gained recognition as one of the early advocates of the idea that not only Bitcoin but many assets operate within four-year market cycles.
As the director and co-founder of the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art (MoCDA), Serena Tabacchi stands out in the art world. Her academic journey includes training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Birbeck University, where she explored the intersection of performance and text.
A trailblazing entrepreneur, Alex Mashinsky has started numerous tech companies over the years. His notable ventures include founding Arbinet in 1996—a commodity exchange for telecoms—and VoiceSmart, one of the earliest companies offering call routing for both traditional and VoIP telecommunications.
Ellen DeGeneres, the renowned talk show host, embarked on a unique foray into the world of NFTs, believing it would be a clever move to auction off a non-fungible token interpretation of one of her show’s memorable moments.
Kate Moss has recently embraced the NFT movement by creatively melding art with finance in an unexpected fashion. She has curated a distinctive collection composed of non-fungible tokens that prominently feature her own likeness.
Teodora Atanasova is a notable figure in the realm of blockchain, excelling in investor relations and legal cryptocurrency matters. She holds an academic degree in international business law from Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Trung Nguyen, a coder from Vietnam, co-founded Sky Mavis, the creative force behind the hugely successful play-to-earn game Axie Infinity, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain and features its sidechain known as Ronin.
Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, wears many hats: he’s the mastermind behind Roc-A-Fella Records, a successful nightclub owner with the 40/40 Club, the creative force behind the Rocawear fashion line, and a part-owner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. His tenure as the CEO of Def Jam Recordings further solidifies his status in the music industry.
Rob Gronkowski, a former tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has distinguished himself as one of the earliest NFL athletes to explore opportunities in the NFT space, expressing keen interest in sharing NFT content.
The 2000s pop sensation Lindsay Lohan has emerged as a passionate supporter of TAE on Twitter, celebrating how tokens and blockchain technologies empower creators with enhanced copyright protections.
As an American rapper, dancer, and producer, Soulja Boy made headlines when he auctioned off a tweet titled \"How do I sell my tweet\" for over $1,200, showcasing his early involvement with blockchain technology.