Gwyneth Paltrow is one of many public figures to have backed cryptocurrency. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Up until relatively recently, cryptocurrency hadn’t captured the interest of the general public; it was reserved almost exclusively for the engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs who had been involved in its conception around a decade ago.

However, the bitcoin bubble in 2017 caused cryptocurrencies to soar in value, and led to millions purchasing cryptoshares and even setting up their own mining farms.

Despite the considerable drop in the value of bitcoin over the past year, experts are predicting a new cryptocurrency boom in the near future, possibly from 2020.

With a considerable number of public figures already investing their fortunes in cryptocurrency, more seem to be jumping on board with cryptocurrency for business ventures and more.

Here are 13 celebrities who have publicly backed various cryptocurrencies.

Bill Gates

By 2014, Microsoft founder Bill Gates had already shown avid interest in cryptocurrency in an interview with Bloomberg.

Despite having reservations about Bitcoin more recently, Gates is one of the most well-known bitcoin-invested public figures in the world.

“Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be,” he explained in an interview with Bloomberg from 2014. “Bitcoin is better than currency in that that you don’t have to be physically in the same place and, of course, for large transactions, currency can get pretty inconvenient.”

Gwyneth Paltrow

The actress and “Goop” owner is another public figure who has publicly expressed her support for crypto.

Though Gwyneth Paltrow receives a lot of attention in the media, often for questionable health advice on her lifestyle website “Goop”, the actress is involved in a number of other business ventures too.

Paltrow is another advocate of crypto — in fact, she was the face of bitcoin wallet, Abra, as well as becoming an advisor there from August 2017.

Last November Paltrow shared an article on Twitter on “The Basics of Bitcoin and Crypto Currency, and How to Invest”.

Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton has shown interest in cryptocurrency since 2017.

Despite controversy over the owner of LydianCoin having been convicted of domestic violence, in September 2017 Hilton stated that she was “looking forward to participating in the new” ICO.

Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg expressed interest in accepting Bitcoin for an upcoming album in 2013, before the currency had caught the public’s interest,

Although it’s not known how many albums he ultimately sold, Snoop Dog was selling them at 0.3 BTC in 2013.

Based on bitcoin value today, he could possibly have earned over roughly $1,000 per album. The artists also made an appearance at an XRP Community Night crypto party, according to The Coin Shark.

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher is a strong advocate of Bitcoin and even has his own investment firm.

As well as founding his own investment firm “A-Grade” in 2010, Ashton Kutcher has invested in UnikoinGold along with billionaire Mark Cuban.

The esports gambling startup responsible for the currency, Unikrn, marketed UnikoinGold as a currency to be used for betting on the likes of League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

The actor has also invested in Uber, Airbnb, and BitPay in the past.

Hugh Laurie

British actor Hugh Laurie, known for his role in the hit show “House”.

British actor, Hugh Laurie, well known for his role as Gregory House, M.D, hadn’t had any particular interest in crypto up until four years ago.

However, in 2015, a friend suggested he invest in Bitcoin, at which time it was starting to rocket in value.

At the behest of a friend, Laurie invested in BTC at the value of $5,000.

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson is one of those who saw the future of cryptocurrency before it had really taken off.

As well as investing in Bitcoin, Tyson has produced Bitcoin ATMs branded with his face tattoo.

In collaboration with Bitcoin Direct, he also came up with a Bitcoin Wallet with the same branding as the ATM.

In 2015, Engadget reported that he had launched a Bitcoin ATM system, a virtual wallet operated using bitcoins.

Pitbull

Singer Pitbull says he started investing in bitcoins in 2012.

In April 2018, Pitbull announced that, in conjunction with eMerge Americas, he would be launching Smackathon — a cryptocurrency to revolutionize payments in the music industry, according to a CNBC report.

Lionel Messi

The star expressed support for Sirin Labs on social media on various occasions.

Lionel Messi became brand ambassador for Israeli company Sirin Labs in late 2017.

Sirin Labs is producing the world’s first crypto smartphone and, according to the his Instagram, the footballer is backing it.

Ethereum World News reported at the end of last year that the Finney phone is now available and has a variety of features aimed specifically at crypto users.

Mel B

Singer and former member of British pop group The Spice Girls, Mel B, also known as “Scary Spice”.

Mel B became the first British artist to begin accepting bitcoin as payment for her 2014 Christmas single through a partnership with CloudHashing, according to a Kryptomoney report.

Cloudhashing is among the biggest companies in the industry offering bitcoin-mining contracts.

“I love how new technology makes our lives easier, and to me that’s exciting,” said the artist, on announcing that she’d be accepting crypto payments. “Bitcoin unites my fans around the world using one currency.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The controversial boxer started promoting the scheduled ICO by startup Centra in September 2017.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been promoting several ICOs for some time, including Stox, Hubii Network, and Centra.

In 2017, he tweeted:

Madonna

The Queen of Pop is a Ripple enthusiast.

Madonna, along with Bill Clinton, is one of many public figures involved in spreading the word about how easy and secure cryptocurrency is as a payment method.

The Queen of Pop teamed up with Facebook and Ripple last year for an online fundraiser to benefit her Raising Malawi foundation, according to Ethereum World News.

Ripple matched each dollar donated to the campaign, with Madonna describing Ripple’s involvement as a “generous commitment” to her organization.

Johnny Depp

Actor Johnny Depp is one of the latest public figures to throw his hat into the crypto ring.

While the Johnny Depp has received a lot of tumultuous publicity over the past few years, in part, down to his unusual spending habits, the actor hasn’t shied away from getting involved in crypto.

Last autumn, the actor became a partner at blockchain startup TaTaTu.

According to CCN, the platform rewards users in the form of tokens for interacting with content like films and games.