Bitcoin Market Journal, the leading website for blockchain investors, put together its first ever “Crypto 50,” a roundup of the thought leaders having the biggest impact on the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
The Crypto 50 rates each blockchain influencer on criteria such as:
- Blockchain achievements and accomplishments
- Number of years in the blockchain space
- Audience size
- Frequency of publication
- Credibility and expertise in content
Congratulations to Vitalik Buterin (#1), Nick Szabo (#2), and Laura Shin (#3), our top three influencers. We also include blockchain investors (including Tyler Winklevoss and Marc Andreesen) and blockchain news sites (like Forbes and Coindesk). The Crypto 50!
Influencers
| Name | Claim to Fame | Year Established | Reach | Update Frequency | Credibility | Quality of Coverage | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitalik Buterin | Founder of Ethereum and commenter on cryptocurrency | 2011 | 876k Twitter followers | High | Built the second most popular cryptocurrency | Good, not great. A mix of insight and links, along with personal opinion and commentary. | 4.7 |
| Erik Voorhees | CEO and founder of multiple cryptocurrency firms | 2009 | 354k Twitter followers | Moderate | Built several cryptocurrency firms and has been recognized by numerous publications as a thought leader | Moderate at best. Some links and insight with a heavy helping of data-light snark and blockchain evangelism. | 3.3 |
| Tone Vays | Derivatives trader, crypto evangelist, and pundit. YouTube personality. His opinion on digital asset valuation is often controversial. A "rockstar" figurehead of the crypto space. | 2013 | 193k Twitter followers | High | Podcast and conference host. Event organizer. Risk analyst at Bear Stearns, VP of JP Morgan Chase | High. Although known for his sometimes erroneous price predictions, Tone Vays covers issues as deep as tech concepts through some of his workshops, educating the masses on digital ledger technology. | 3.9 |
| Charlie Lee | Founder of LiteCoin | 2008 | 835k Twitter followers | Frequent | Built one of the most successful cryptocurrency projects | Good. A mix of industry commentary and updates on LiteCoin. Interesting and informative, but mostly to people interested in LiteCoin. | 4.1 |
| Jamie Dimon | CEO of JP Morgan, Dimon is a special case. A fierce critic of Bitcoin and blockchain, Dimon's position in the financial world makes his perspective worth following (even if outside the norm for a list like this). | N/A | 476k Twitter followers | Low | CEO of one of the world's largest investment banks | High. Although a relentless skeptic of cryptocurrency, Dimon's perspective comes from one of the most well-informed and high profile voices in finance. | 3.8 |
| Andreas Antonopoulos | Computer scientist, commenter, and author of numerous books on blockchain. | 2013 | 499k Medium followers | Moderate | An author of numerous books, Antonopoulos also writes a Medium blog and runs a Youtube channel. | High. Despite his relatively infrequent posting, Antonopoulos' work is informative and detail-rich. | 3.7 |
| Laura Shin | Journalist with a focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain | 2009 | 115k Twitter followers | Frequent | An editor with Forbes who writes extensively on this subject from a neutral perspective | High. Shin's articles, while for general consumption, are extremely well informed and obejctive. | 4.2 |
| Anthony Pompliano | A very active advocate of institutional crypto adoption. Author of a daily letter, directly involved in the industry through Morgan Creek Digital | 2018 | 270k Twitter followers | High | Co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital. | High. Pomp's work is focused on the institutional adoption of digital assets. Through his Digital Asset Fund, he directly facilitates access to the crypto space for institutions. | 3.5 |
| Brian Armstrong | CEO of Coinbase | 2008 | 309k Twitter followers | Frequent | Helped to found one of the biggest blockchain sites online and has a Medium blog | Moderate. Armstrong's work is generally insightful, although often intermixed with advertising for Coinbase. | 3.6 |
| Nick Szabo | A computer scientist, economist, and author | 2014 | 242k Twitter followers | High | Generally credited with inventing the concept of smart contracts as well as the gold standard model used by Bitcoin | High. Although not geared toward general consumption, Szabo's work is informative and dives deep into the economics and monetary concepts essential to cryptocurrency. | 4.2 |
| Don Tapscott | Author of numerous books on technology and blockchain | 2008 | 111k Twitter followers | High | Has written several well received books and is the founder of the Blockchain Research Institute | Good. Tapscott's chief body of work comes through his books,which are generally very strong, rather than his online media. | 3.6 |
| Thomas Power | An advisor and board member of several technology companies | 2007 | 325k Twitter followers | High | Widely consulted speaker and often-cited authority on blockchain,who has contributed relatively little in terms of original scholarship or business foundation | Good. His publicly available work used to be unfocused and rarely informative. That changed with the release of his book Tokenomics, which covers ICOs as well as technical issues concerning tokens and coins. | 3.5 |
| Tuur Demeester | Economist and editor at Adamant Research | 2009 | 198k Twitter followers | High | A researcher and writer who specializes in technical analysis | Good. Demeester's publicly available work is focused on economic issues and market analysis. | 3.8 |
| Justin Sun | Founder of the TRON platform, Bittorent CEO, overall DLT wonderkid. | 2013 | 1.69m Twitter followers | High | Protege of Alibaba's Jack Ma, former chief representative of Ripple in the Greater China area. Sun is the founder of TRON. | Moderate. Sun is a bit of a hype master. He knows how to attract attention and to pull publicity stunts, skills which he often employs for the benefit of the crypto industry. His focus is, however, on his own TRON and BTT. He is more of a salesman than an educator. | 3.9 |
| Brian Evans | Journalist and entrepreneur in technology space | 2009 | 499k Twitter followers | Moderate | A contributor to outlets such as Inc and Fortune, as well as the founder of Influencive | Moderate. Evans' work is interesting and he has numerous articles on blockchain; however, they are often topical and with less detail than many other writers on the subject. | 3.6 |
Individual Investors
| Name | Claim to Fame | Year Established | Reach | Update Frequency | Credibility | Quality of Coverage | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinny Lingham | Entrepreneur in the blockchain space who now invests in companies | 2007 | 172k Twitter followers | High | Founder of firms including Gyft and Identity Civic, and commenter on both Twitter and Medium | High. Lingham provides good information with a focus on finance and investment. | 4.1 |
| Naval Ravikant | Co-Founder of Angellist | 2007 | 693k Twitter followers | High | Entrepreneur and investor who has invested in companies including Twitter and Uber. | Good. While Ravikant's major work on blockchain is infrequent, it is typically well-regarded and highly insightful. | 4.2 |
| Tyler Winklevoss | Blockchain investor and founder of Winklevoss Capital | 2009 | 190k Twitter followers | Low | Founder of Winklevoss Capital and an early investor in blockchain, focusing much of his energy on bitcoin and blockchain. | Moderate. Although Winklevoss has made several insightful comments on the state of the blockchain market, it is only one focus out of many. | 3.0 |
| Barry Silbert | Founder and CEO of the Digital Currency Group | 2011 | 200k Twitter followers | Frequent | An investor who focuses on crypto- and other digital forms of currency. | Good. Silbert uses his Twitter account to make interesting observations on the state of the market, while his firm's blog makes for good reading. | 3.6 |
| Changpeng Zhao | CEO of Binance, the founder of BNB | 2013 | 427k Twitter followers | High | A member of the team that developed blockchain.info, CZ also acted as CTO of OKCoin. The founder of the world's largest digital asset exchange by volume, he is, beyond doubt, one of the richest crypto investors in the world. | Moderate. CZ mostly tweets about Binance and BNB. His work in this regard is quite fascinating however. | 4.0 |
| Marc Andreessen | An investor in blockchain who often comments on the state of the industry | 2007 | 722k Twitter followers | Very Low | A billionaire investor and co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz | Mixed. Andreessen's business insights are extremely well-regarded; however, his social media publications often focus more on politics than blockchain insights. | 3.4 |
| Roger Ver | An investor who has focused on bitcoin and blockchain since early production | 2010 | 589k Twitter followers | Frequent | An entrepreneur and investor, who first started investing in Bitcion in 2011 before the cryptocurrency's value soared | Moderate. Ver is an open evangelist for blockchain and Bitcoin. While this enthusiasm allowed him to enter the market at a profitable time, it makes his analysis less reliable than an objective source. | 2.9 |
| Charlie Shrem | Co-Founder of BitInstant and the Bitcoin Foundation | 2009 | 166k Twitter followers | Frequent | An investor who has participated in blockchain markets since early on, and who has helped found numerous respected organizations | High. Shrem writes about market news and blockchain, as well as insights from his time in prison. | 3.7 |
| Tim Draper | A founding partner of technology investment firms DFJ and Draper Associates | 2009 | 126k Twitter followers | Moderate | Has helped to found two highly succesful firms that focus on the technology space | Good. Draper is highly influential as an investor. While his publicly available channels most often link to the work of others, they are generally interesting and highly informative. | 3.6 |
| Fred Wilson | A venture capitalist with Union Square Ventures | 2007 | 657k Twitter followers | Frequent | An investor and a popular blogger who has focused on the blockchain space for several years | Moderate. Wilson's blog and social media channels are a mix of market insight and personal comment. | 3.7 |
| Chris Burniske | An investor who specializes in cryptocurrency assets | 2016 | 121k Twitter followers | Frequent | An investor and author who works exclusively in cryptocurrency assets | Good. Burniske's Twitter account has market-focused insights, and his book is one of the initial texts on cryptocurrency-based investment from a Wall Street perspective. | 3.4 |
| Fred Ehrsam | A former Goldman Sachs trader who helped found Coinbase | 2011 | 93k Twitter followers | Moderate | Helped found one of the world's largest blockchain websites and is a blockchain-focused investor | High. Ehrsam's work focuses on technical and market analysis, with in-depth articles that are typically complex and informative. | 4.0 |
| Luke Martin | Cryptocurrency trader and founder of VentureCoinist | 2017 | 211k Twitter followers | High | Comments on blockchain through his popular YouTube channel VentureCoinist and his website of the same name | Good. With engaging videos and sharp Twitter links, Martin provides excellent comment for the interested layperson. | 3.3 |
| Ari Paul | Co-Founder and CIO of BlockTower Capital | 2017 | 139k Twitter followers | Frequent | An investor and writer, who comments on Twitter, TheCryptocurrencyInvestor.com and Forbes | Good. Paul approaches his analysis from a market-oriented perspective while at the same time showing a clear grasp of the technology in which he invests. | 3.3 |
| Joseph Zhou | An engineer who helped to develop Ethereum and now acts as an angel investor | 2009 | 39k Twitter followers | Moderate to Low | A developer who helped write some of the initial code for Ethereum, and an angel investor for upcoming projects | Moderate. Zhou's commentary and shared articles, while infrequent, are technical and demonstrate a good state-of-the-industry. | 3.2 |
General News Sites
| Name | Claim to Fame | Year Established | Reach | Update Frequency | Credibility | Quality of Coverage | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forbes | A business and technology focused news site | 1917 | 7.4 Million Readership Per Issue | Daily | A website and magazine with long-form coverage and highly respected reporting | High. Forbes employs some of the most respected voices in blockchain-related journalism. | 5.0 |
| CNBC | A website focused on market coverage | 1989 | 48.5 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A website and cable channel focusing on short-form, web-oriented coverage | Good. While CNBC delivers daily, market-oriented coverage, it is often lighter and more daily reporting than some of its peers. | 4.3 |
| Business Insider | A market reporting site that includes substantial reporting on technology | 2007 | 100 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A website with original reporting but often of shorter form | Good. Business Insider delivers original reporting with some pieces emphasizing technology, although much of its work is short and light. | 3.8 |
| Quartz | A global reporting site which often touches on technology and blockchain | 2012 | 22 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A website with unusual and off-beat reporting, and a source for sometimes unusual or underserved coverage | Good. While Quartz does not focus on blockchain, it does often report on global technology and its work is generally excellent. | 4.0 |
| Wired | A technology-focused magazine | 1993 | 81 Million Readers Per Issue | Daily | A website and magazine focused on technology reporting | High. Wired is one of the best sources available for technology reporting. | 5.0 |
| Fast Company | A corporate news-oriented website and magazine which often discusses technology and entrepreneurship | 1995 | 36 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A corporate news focused site which often overlaps with blockchain development | Good. With a mix of web-oriented content and reported articles, Fast Company's value can alternate. | 3.8 |
| TechCrunch | A technology-focused news site | 2005 | 26 Million Views Per Month | Daily | With a blogger style, TechCrunch focuses on technology news. | Good. When it reports on blockchain, TechCrunch's work is reliable and well-informed. | 4.0 |
| CNET | A website that focuses on technology and markets, with a consumer focus | 1994 | 203 Million Views Per Month | Daily | CNET covers technology, although its consumer-oriented focus makes it less ideal for blockchain. | Good. Although CNET is less likely to provide relevant coverage, what it does write is highly reliable. | 4.3 |
| Mashable | A news website covering technology and culture. | 2005 | 55 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A culture-oriented coverage makes Mashable less relevant to blockchain, but its technology coverage is generally quite good. | Moderate. Mashable relies on more brief articles that generally provide less technical depth than peer publications. | 3.5 |
| Gizmodo | A technology blog which approaches coverage from a quick-hit perspective | 2002 | 100 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A commentary and culture blog with a technology focus | Low. Although Gizmodo covers blockchain, it generally does so by providing inexpert commentary to news already published. | 3.1 |
Industry Specific Sites
| Name | Claim to Fame | Year Established | Reach | Update Frequency | Credibility | Quality of Coverage | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coindesk | One of the oldest news sites dedicated to cryptocurrency | 2013 | 22 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A cryptocurrency news and market site | High. Conidesk is one of the most highly respected dedicated cryptocurrency news sites. | 5.00 |
| Today on Chain | A news aggregator site, offering a one-stop-shop experience | 2018 | No Reliable Data | Daily | A site featuring reporting from most of the news sites featured on this list. It offers a very comprehensive selection of news. | Today on Chain may piggyback on others, but its proposition still carries value. It acts as a sort of curator for the most important and needle-moving news from all over the cryptosphere. | 1.88 |
| Bitcoin.com | One of the most well-respected cryptocurrency news sites. | 2015 | 10 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A cryptocurrency news and reporting site that extends to technology reporting | High. Bitcoin.com is a highly respected cryptocurrency news site that does original reporting. | 4.7 |
| CCN | A market-focused cryptocurrency news site | 2013 | 4 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A cryptocurrency news site which mixes original reporting with light analysis | Moderate. Much of CCN's work is brief and based on work reported elsewhere. | 3.5 |
| Brave New Coin | The news section of market-oriented website Brave New Coin | 2014 | 170,000 Views Per Month | Daily | A market information site with a wide range of data and coverage | Good. Although news coverage is not the focus of Brave New Coin, it is a very good source for a broad range of subjects. | 3.8 |
| Bitcoinist | A news and editorial site on cryptocurrency | 2013 | 4 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A wide-ranging news and editorial site focused on a mix of reporting and commentary | Good. Bitcoinist has interesting perspectives and good reporting. | 4.00 |
| Cointelegraph | A highly respected cryptocurrency news and market information website | 2013 | 57 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A cryptocurrency news site that relies on original reporting and research | High. Cointelegraph is one of the most highly respected dedicated cryptocurrency news sites. | 5.00 |
| CryptoSlate | A news-focused site looking to deliver transparent reporting on digital asset adoption. | 2017 | No Reliable Data | Daily | A news-focused site, featuring original reporting | High. Solid reporting, localized news, thousands of published stories. | 2.16 |
| Bitcoin Magazine | An extensive news, reporting, and analysis website on cryptocurrency | 2012 | 4.3 Million Views Per Month | Daily | An originally reported cryptocurrency website | High. Bitcoin Magazine relies on its own journalism and expert analysis, often with long-form pieces. | 4.5 |
| Cryptovest | A wide-ranging publication which addresses news, educational topics, and product reviews | 2017 | 1.5 Million Views Per Month | Daily | A website focusing on market and educational subjects with reporting as well | Moderate. Cryptovest focuses on brief, web-oriented content rather than original reporting. | 3.2 |
The Bottom Line
With a market valued at well over $200 billion, cryptocurrency has quickly become one of the most covered assets on the market. It has attracted attention of both niche bloggers and mainstream publications, but the quality of this coverage varies widely. Finding reliable information is key for investors.
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