Unconventional people are nothing new in the cryptocurrency world - it takes unconventional people to start a trend, drive a movement, and brainstorm new ideas. However, while there are those who are unconventional because of their abilities to buck trends and invest in new ideas - the Marc Andreessens of the world - there are those that just plain go ‘against-the-grain’ as a rule. These are the people who say what they want to say, and do whatever it is they do, without worrying too much about what the rest of the world has to say. Today, HashReport looks at seven of the most unconventional people in the digital currency community that have caught the mainstream media’s and/or community’s attention.

Thomas Hunt

If you’re new to bitcoin, or you’re just a wallflower casually observing the actions through the lens of the mainstream media, you’ve probably never heard of Thomas Hunt. That’s a shame, because Thomas Hunt is one of the most prolific bitcoin video producers on the ‘net today.

Hunt first burst on the scene with his webshow MAD Bitcoins on April 21 2013, dressed as you see him to the left. As time has gone on, his show has continued to pick up more and more viewers and supporters. He was even nominated for a ‘Shorty‘ - the social media equivalent to the ‘Oscars’ - earlier this year.

Hunt also leads the discussion on the “The Bitcoin Group,” another Hunt-produced show developed in the spirit of the well-known U.S. public affairs television show The McLaughlin Group. That show, which features regular appearances by bitcoin notables Andreas Antonopoulos, Bitcoin Not Bomb’s Davi Barker, and Adam B. Levine from Let’s Talk Bitcoin, is a more ‘adult’ (sometimes that term is used loosely) discussion of the goings-on in the crypto community.

Hopefully Hunt will continue to inform and entertain the community with his outrageous hat and bug-eyed sun goggles for the foreseeable future.

Austin and Beccy Craig

Imagine trying to live your life today on bitcoin alone. It doesn’t seem so hard, does it? Now try living your life on only bitcoin a year ago, before the massive rise in bitcoin’s value, and before the crush of mainstream press and commercial interest… seems a bit more daunting, doesn’t it? When Forbes writer Kashmir Hill tried it a year ago, she went hungry .

On 27 July 2013, and for the following 101 days, that’s just what newly-wed couple Austin and Beccy Craig did.

After their honeymoon, the Craigs gave up their cash and credit cards and embarked on a mission to live their lives - including pay rent, insurance, food, and travel - all with bitcoin exclusively.

Starting at their home in Provo, Utah, the couple (and a film crew) traveled on the road to New York, booked flights to various places in Europe, and then back home to Utah. Along the way the couple & crew produced over 200 hours of film, which they are in the process of editing and combining into a feature-length documentary - “Life on Bitcoin.”

When asked by HR regarding their lives today, Austin replied: “These days Beccy and I are back to our normal lives, working our normal jobs, using bitcoin when we can, and buying more crypto currency for long-term storage when we can” and that, “We are racing to get the movie done as soon as we can.”

Bryce Weiner

If you’re a cryptocoiner on twitter, you’re probably either following this guy, or you’re following someone else following this guy. Either way, the odds are you’ve seen his comments pop up in your feed either directly by being retweeted.

Weiner has over a decade of experience as a research analyst, and has worked as a freelance contractor for the defense and security industries. Today he’s the Director of Cryptoeconomy Engineering at Blocktech, as well as the brains behind the conspiracy research site AmKon.net.

Weiner is one of those people that others either love or hate - or love to hate - and he knows it. In a speech at the CryptoCurrency Convention April 2014, he introduced himself by saying, “Depending on who you listen to, I’m an idiot, I’m an asshole, I have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m a troll… but then again I’m standing here.”

He’s known for pulling no punches when it comes to giving his opinions on the legitimacy of various altcoins, getting into verbal scuffles on twitter, and generally being ‘in your face.’ Case in point: one of his tweets as I write this is a simple “bite my ass.”

Love or hate him, with almost 6000 twitter followers, Weiner does have some clout in the cryptocurrency community. He also has a whitepaper, has been involved in the development of a number of altcoins, and as you saw above, gets asked to speak in public every once in awhile.

Jason King

How much do you do for your community? Do you donate time or money to local charities? Do you toss a few bucks to the guy on the street corner?

Meet Jason King, who founded the charity “Sean’s Outpost” in Escambia County, Florida to help the Pensacola homeless as best as he can. Over the last year his organization has provided tens of thousands of meals, was among those leading the charge to repeal a law that prohibited assisting the homeless by giving them blankets, came to the aid of another outreach center when a fire destroyed their facility, opened an 11,000sqft thrift shop and storage facility to help their operations, and purchased 9 acres of woodland - dubbed ‘Satoshi Forest’ - which is used as a homeless sanctuary.

Oh, and then King ran 3200 miles across America to raise awareness about homelessness and help educate people about the benefits of bitcoin. Along the way he lost 72lbs, had to get a cortisone shot for his knee, and raised about 200 bitcoins (about $120k USD).

That’s pretty epic. You can learn more about Sean’s Outpost, and donate, here.

Borja & Elvis

Motorcycling cross-country isn’t new. People do it all the time these days in America, where crowds of bikers decend on Sturgis, SD or Daytona Beach each year. Hell, my dad rode cross-country to Yellowstone in the 70’s before I was born - he even fought off a bear.

But what about riding across Africa, using only bitcoin? That’s what Borja & Elvis did with the help of localbitcoins.com.

Starting in Morocco in October 2013, and ending in South Africa in January 2014, Borja and his travel-mate Elvis rode their motorcycles South, braving inclement weather, multiple tire punctures, sleeping wherever they could find shelter, and using the website (when they had internet) to find people to exchange their bitcoins for local currencies along the way.

There no reports of having to fight off any animals, bears or otherwise.

Know someone else who should be recognized? Comment below!

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