Santa made his list and checked it twice, and Decrypt it hasAll teas on who has been naughty or nice in the crypto industry in the past year.
From crypto CEOs advocating for the industry to NFT project founders who use their good fortune to help others, several Web3 workhorses made it to St. Nick's “Pretty List” this year. Here's who can wait for presents under the tree when Santa comes to town.
Brian Armstrong is the face of the digital assets industry. Fighting for more favorable laws in the US
The soft-spoken Coinbase CEO has spent a fair amount of time in Washington this year, engaging with Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike on the future of crypto in the US. He led the initiative to put issues related to digital assets at the center of the 2024 US elections. , sponsoring studies on the political leanings of crypto holders and facilitating Republican candidate Donald Trump's push to embrace crypto in his election campaigns.
It was Armstrong and his team. Useful in building Pro-Crypto Super PAC Fairshack's $200 million war chest. Coinbase donated approx 50 million dollars each for Fairshack In the year Between 2023 and 2024, it will help ensure the security of the elections The most pro-crypto US Congress.
Carlos Domingo
Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo is in front The tokenization craze of the crypto industry– The trend that helped Catapult digital asset value to new heights In the year In June 2024, the executive testified on Capitol Hill about the real-world importance of asset tokens and their future financial implications.
Domingo is also an important partner for institutional investors looking to invest in crypto. Earlier this year, the Spanish founder of the token platform partnered with BlackRock. The investment titan's launch of a US dollar institutional digital liquid fund (BUDDLE)
Michael Saylor
Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor remains a staunch advocate for Bitcoin. The world's oldest cryptocurrency with a value of more than 15 billion dollars to the company's balance sheet In the last few weeksAccording to Company's Filing with US regulators.
Saylor's company holds 423,650 Bitcoin (worth $41.5 billion) as of press time, according to the company's financial statements.
Although HODL reserves 2 percent of Bitcoin mined, Saylor has made another big contribution to the future of cryptocurrency by encouraging other tech giants to own the asset.
At the beginning of this month Saylor appointed the directors of Microsoft With a proposal to add Bitcoin to the company's balance sheet – the shareholders ultimately rejected it. In addition, he Concerned Amazon shareholders To invest the supply company in digital currency. Many other small companies have followed the microstrategy playbook.
Maggie Love
Maggie Love is the founder of Chefy, a community for women in the crypto industry.
SheFi offers job boards, courses and networking opportunities dedicated to women, a demographic group that is underrepresented in the Web3 and wider tech sector.
Less than 15% of startups in the Web3 ecosystem have at least one female founder, and only 3% have an all-female founding team, according to a Crunchbase data analysis by the Boston consulting group.
A year ago there was the Shefi Summit attempt.
Today is a movement.
Thank you to all 500+ of you who attended the biggest Chef meeting yet and made it incredibly clear:
The border is feminine. pic.twitter.com/PnuUZgv2Az
— Maggie Love wu (@maggielove_) July 7, 2024
However, SheFi is challenging that lack of representation.
Since its inception, SheFi has amassed over 3,000 members, making it one of the largest female-led communities in crypto.
Edward Snowden
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden continues to advocate for privacy as adoption of encryption and blockchain networks accelerates.
The vector of growth that the Internet and society is moving towards is one that leads to the tyranny of mediocrity, away from extraordinary people who share extraordinary beliefs. The preference for “normal” is so strong that it destroys excellence; A brutal loyalty to the mean.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 16, 2024
In Nashville, TN, this summer, Snowden, at the annual Bitcoin conference He warned the conference participants to vote independently The upcoming US presidential election has huge consequences for the future of the crypto industry. He also pointed out that governments can use tools supported by artificial intelligence My People Metadata – A very important caveat in this era of ever-increasing use of AI tools.
Luca Netz
Luca Nets, CEO and IP owner of Pudgy Penguins, has built an impressive array of NFT's for crypto collectors despite a massive market downturn.
Pudgy Penguin's impressive growth kicked into high gear when the Webkinz-like Pudgy World launched in 2024, and was later aided by the buzz surrounding its upcoming launch. Solana-based PENGU token launch.
Pudgy Penguin's floor price—meaning the price of a set's least-valuable token—increased to $134,000 in ethereum in mid-December, tripling in value since the start of the year, according to CoinGecko. Data It shows. This is the second most important profile picture (PFP) project on the market as of this writing, behind the influential CryptoPunks.
Pudgy Penguins also continues to make its way into the hearts of mainstream consumers in 2024 as the real-world toy collection expands to Walmart, Target and Walgreens shelves across the US and Canada.
In addition to his work at Pudgy Penguin, Netz is an angel investor committed to several Web3 projects, including women-led companies like Chipped.
Gracie Chen
BitGate CEO Gracie Chen has been leading the world's 11th largest exchange since May 2024.
Chen helped the trading platform secure a major deal with Spanish soccer league La Liga, raising the profile of the exchange in Europe and Latin America. And under her leadership, Bitgate expanded its presence in Europe, establishing its first regional center in Lithuania.
The moves are part of the platform's broader strategy to court new users in markets around the world. Meanwhile, Chen's Bitget has introduced the development of the crypto industry through it $100 million “Web 3 Fund”
In addition to her work at Bitget, the executive spearheads philanthropic programs such as Blockchain4Her, which aims to promote gender inclusion and diversity in the crypto industry. Chen is also a delegate to the United Nations Conference on the Status of Women.
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