The cryptocurrency space is a relatively young industry and market, however, there are already several industry figures that are deeply ingrained in all things cryptocurrency, can speak with authority on a number of crypto-related topics, and have a strong influence over the cryptocurrency community. Cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts alike look to these influencers to provide key commentary on industry trends or events, and are even sought to provide direction on where the market may go next.

Here is Covesting’s list of the top 10 cryptocurrency influencers, in no particular order:

Changpeng Zhao, Binance CEO

Changpeng Zhao is among the most beloved names in the cryptocurrency space. The outspoken Binance CEO always speaks in a positive tone, and his remarks are always geared toward the betterment of the cryptocurrency industry. If he’s not making prolific tweets, then he’s using his platform to tout all of the success his exchange is enjoying as of late.

Zhao is one of cryptocurrency’s biggest success stories. Zhao got his start in finance at the Tokyo Stock Exchange after graduating from McGill University in Montreal, Canada with a computer science degree. Then he got his start in the cryptocurrency industry working for Blockchain.info and became the CTO of OKCoin.

In 2017, Zhao left OKCoin to launch his own exchange called Binance. In less than a year, Binance became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, and is now expecting up to $1 billion in profit to be generated by the exchange in its first full calendar year in operation.

Binance’s success helped propel Changpeng Zhao to the top of Forbes crypto rich list, which highlighted the wealthiest figures in the cryptocurrency industry.

Roger Ver, Bitcoin.com CEO

Not all cryptocurrency influencers are universally loved like Changpeng Zhao. Many of them, such as the likes of Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver, are polarizing industry figures that are either loved or hated.

Roger Ver is one of cryptocurrency’s earliest supporters and has done incredible things for the industry, earning the nickname Bitcoin Jesus. Ver, however, is among the key figures behind the cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash, which earns him much notoriety in the cryptocurrency industry from Bitcoin purists.

Ver was recently embroiled in a battle with Bitcoin SV frontman Craig Wright that resulted in a hard fork of Bitcoin Cash.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Co-Founder

Vitalik Buterin was a child genius and an early Bitcoin enthusiast. Through his love for coding and interest in Bitcoin, Buterin penned the Ethereum white paper. He co-founded the Ethereum project alongside Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin as way to develop applications over blockchain.

Buterin is also a philanthropist and has made a number of charitable donations to various research funds. Buterin was also the central focus of a 4chan death hoax. These days, Buterin takes to his various social media platforms to talk about the future of the cryptocurrency industry and various aspects of development, regulation, and adoption.

Andreas Antonopoulos, Author, Podcast Host, and Public Speaker

Andreas Antonopoulos is one of the earliest and most vocal Bitcoin supporters, leaving his job in 2012 to promote the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin may not be as widely known today if it weren’t for Antonopoulos' early teachings and presentations, speaking to the masses about Bitcoin.

At the end of the 2017 bull run, Antonopoulos’ followers sent him over 100 BTC worth of unsolicited donations supporting his work. Today, Antonopoulos serves as the host on the Let’s Talk Bitcoin podcast.

Charlie Lee, Litecoin Creator and Managing Director of Litecoin Foundation

Charlie Lee is the creator of the Litecoin cryptocurrency and currently serving as the Managing Director of the Litecoin Foundation. There, Lee helps push the adoption of Litecoin as a form of payment, and recently struck a deal with Ultimate Fighting Championship to make Litecoin the first ever cryptocurrency sponsor to be featured in the Octagon.

The MIT graduate in the past worked for Google before becoming interested in Bitcoin. During his spare time while working for Google, Lee had written the Litecoin protocol. Lee also worked at Coinbase prior to Litecoin being listed on that exchange.

Lee, typically a positively viewed member of the cryptocurrency community, was briefly at the center of much controversy when he sold almost all of his Litecoin holdings at the December 2017 peak over a perceived conflict of interest. Lee ended up perfectly selling the top of the 2017 bull run.

Riccardo Spagni, Lead Developer of Monero

Riccardo Spagni, also known by his nickname fluffypony, wasn’t the person who created privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero, but has since become the project’s lead developer and the steward of the cryptocurrency.

Spagni and six others forked the Monero codebase away from the mysterious person who created the Monero whitepaper, who like Satoshi Nakamoto used a pseudonym.

Since then, Spagni has become a respected member of the cryptocurrency community, and often calls the integrity of other projects into question, earning the respect of his peers as not only the steward of Monero, but as someone who looks out for the entire cryptocurrency industry.

Peter Brandt, Professional Trader and Author

Peter Brandt is less cryptocurrency influencer and more of a prominent trader of all markets. But due to Brandt’s wealth of experience and track record of success, when Brandt talks cryptocurrencies, the entire space listens intently.

Brandt almost perfectly called the targets of most cryptocurrency’s recent descending triangle, which sent Bitcoin plummeting another 40% toward $3,250.

Brandt also is a member of the Bitcoin.Live team, next to the likes of Tone Vays, and Haejin Lee, who both almost earned a nod on this list.

Trace Mayer, Manager at Premier Ark LLC

Trace Mayer is yet another early Bitcoin investor and promoter, and operates a podcast called The Bitcoin Knowledge Podcast aimed at educating the masses about the potentially life-changing technology.

Trace hosts other industry figures on his podcast to talk about the technology and the state of the industry. Trace’s thought leadership goes back nearly a decade, but is still an active cryptocurrency influencer even today.

Recently, to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the Bitcoin Genesis Block creation, Trace organized a “Proof of Keys” celebration, encouraging the cryptocurrency community to pull their cryptocurrencies off of exchanges and into their own custody. Many cryptocurrency evangelists such as Mayer believe that cryptocurrency isn’t truly owned unless the owner is in possession of their own private keys, emphasizing “not your keys, not your bitcoin.”

Mike Novogratz, Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC CEO

Former Fortress Investment Group hedge fund manager turned cryptocurrency and blockchain investor, Mike Novogratz, is among the most cited people across the cryptocurrency industry, typically for his price predictions.

Due to Novogratz and his firm Galaxy Digital’s sizable investment in cryptocurrencies as well as blockchain startups and in the industry in general, Novogratz puts his money where his mouth is, earning him respect from the community.

Since cryptocurrency prices are so volatile, his predictions rarely come true, however, the reasoning behind his predictions is always logical and helps to educate the masses on certain technical indicators and market sentiment.

John McAfee, Luxcore CEO

Last, but certainly not least, is John McAfee. You might recognize the name from the popular anti-virus program, but as of late, McAfee has become a prominent cryptocurrency influencer, rumored to earn millions of dollars in hands-outs from the crypto projects he promotes.

McAfee is as outspoken and as eccentric an influencer gets. He’s called out various conspiracies, boldly claimed a hardware wallet he’s involved with was unbreakable, and even offered to eat his own genitals if Bitcoin didn't reach a price of $1 million by the year 2020.

McAfee is also claiming to run for president in 2020, and launched his own crypto-backed “fiat” paper currency with his likeness on it. Whether you love him or hate him, McAfee is worth a follow if only to watch out for what he says next.

[Image Credits] LinkedIn, Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia (John McAfee), GitHub (Riccardo Spagni), Wikimedia (Antonopolous)