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Most Influential 2022

The Definitive List of the Biggest Changemakers in Crypto, Blockchain and Web3. Presented by Bitstamp

Most Influential 2022

Most Influential 2022

Nos. 1 to 15

Still image from "1-800-CZ" (Aleqth/CoinDesk)

And Then There Was One

In an astonishing six months as crypto winter hobbled even well-funded crypto companies, Binance defended its position at the top of all crypto exchanges and took down its $40...

Still image from "1-800-CZ" (Aleqth/CoinDesk)
"the sun still rises" (Yosnier/CoinDesk)

Still the Face of Crypto

The 30-year-old CEO of FTX shocked the world when his $40 billion crypto empire collapsed last month, with billions in customer assets still unaccounted. That's why Sam Bankma...

"the sun still rises" (Yosnier/CoinDesk)
"The V God" (Federico Solmi/CoinDesk)

Ethereum Pulled Off The Year’s Biggest Blockchain Event

It was no small task for the hundreds of developers and client teams to build, coordinate, and successfully swap out Ethereum’s core from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. That...

"The V God" (Federico Solmi/CoinDesk)
Free Alex Pertsev poster spotted outside the courthouse (Jack Schickler/CoinDesk)

‘We Are All F****d’: The Developers of Tornado Cash and the Future of Crypto

The arrest of a web developer for the now-sanctioned currency mixer Tornado Cash has raised questions about whom states can hold responsible when bad actors use software to co...

Free Alex Pertsev poster spotted outside the courthouse (Jack Schickler/CoinDesk)
"market wizards" (OSF/CoinDesk)

The Four Horsemen of the Cryptocalypse

Move over, war, famine, pestilence and death. Meet the CEOs of Terraform Labs, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital. For blowing up crypto, Do Kwon, Su Zh...

"market wizards" (OSF/CoinDesk)
"Mykhailo Fedorov Defends" (Osinachi/CoinDesk)

Guns, Ammo and Crypto: How A Ukraine Minister May Have Forever Altered Wars

The government of Ukraine has raised an unprecedented $178 million in crypto for its defense. That’s why Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov is one of CoinDesk...

"Mykhailo Fedorov Defends" (Osinachi/CoinDesk)
"Erick Calderon, AKA Snow Fro" (Dave Krugman/CoinDesk)

The Artist/CEO Generating $1.4B – and Growing – in Generative Art Sales

Blockchain-based algorithmic art is bucking the downward market trend of NFTs and one of the most popular platforms supporting this work is five-year-old Art Blocks. That’s wh...

"Erick Calderon, AKA Snow Fro" (Dave Krugman/CoinDesk)
"R3VOLUTION" (Ravi Vora/CoinDesk)

All Aboard! Chartering the Mainstream Party Boat to the Island of Web3

Born in the depths of the pandemic, the Vayner3 consultancy has guided many of the biggest mainstream companies into Web3. That’s why Avery Akkineni and Gary Vaynerchuk are tw...

"R3VOLUTION" (Ravi Vora/CoinDesk)
"Tueri Populus" (Adamtastic/CoinDesk)

Molly White and the Crypto Skeptics

In the year of crypto winter, the critics have been proven right more often than wrong. That’s why Molly White is one of CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2022.

"Tueri Populus" (Adamtastic/CoinDesk)
"House Cats" (Sarah Fontaine Richardson/CoinDesk)

Coordinating the Federal Government's Approach to Crypto

President Joe Biden raised the hopes of the U.S. crypto industry by signing an executive order that directed federal entities to comprehensively regulate the industry. That’s...

"House Cats" (Sarah Fontaine Richardson/CoinDesk)
"VStrange" (Oveck/CoinDesk)

Empire of the Bored Apes

Yuga Labs has grown beyond the wild success of its Bored Ape Yacht Club collection to become an NFT powerhouse with a $4 billion valuation and big plans in the metaverse. That...

"VStrange" (Oveck/CoinDesk)
"Crocodile of Wall Street" (Bryan Brinkman/CoinDesk)

The 'Crocodile of Wall Street' and Her Husband Face Trial

Words fail when describing the infamous crypto couple who allegedly laundered $4.5 billion. He’s behind bars and she’s put her raunchy rap videos on hold, but Hollywood is cal...

"Crocodile of Wall Street" (Bryan Brinkman/CoinDesk)
"Portrait Wall" (Norman Harman/CoinDesk)

The Force Behind a 1% Tax That Crushed Indian Crypto Trading

All signs indicate India’s powerful finance minister disdains cryptocurrencies, and now she is setting the G-20 agenda for how the world's economic powers will regulate it. Th...

"Portrait Wall" (Norman Harman/CoinDesk)
"The Maestro" (Fesq/CoinDesk)

Investing Millions to Orchestrate an Open Metaverse

The co-founder of $5.9 billion gaming giant Animoca Brands has made the development of a single, connected virtual world where users can interact across platforms the cornerst...

"The Maestro" (Fesq/CoinDesk)
Victor Langlois aka FEWOCiOUS (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

The Teen Dropping $20M in NFTs

Following his breakout year as an NFT artist, this 19-year old sold a generative art collection of "paint drop" NFTs for $20 million. That’s why FEWOCiOUS is one of CoinDesk’s...

Victor Langlois aka FEWOCiOUS (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

Meet the NFT Artists

Adam Paul Levine (adamtastic.com)

Most Influential Artist: Adam Levine

The artist made a portrait of crypto critic Molly White, and went down the Web3 rabbit hole she opened up.

Adam Paul Levine (adamtastic.com)
(Federico Solmi)

Most Influential Artist: Federico Solmi

The Italian artist, a resident of New York City, created a 3D image of Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum developers for their role orchestrating The Merge, the most consequenti...

(Federico Solmi)
(Osinachi)

Most Influential Artist: Osinachi

The Nigerian artist creates one-of-a-kind images using Microsoft Word. For this season, he depicted Mikhaylo Federov, the Ukrainian official who raised about $200 million in c...

(Osinachi)
Sarah Richardson Calligraphy (SarahScript.com)

Most Influential Artist: Sarah Script

The calligrapher minted an NFT of White House crypto adviser Carole House.

Sarah Richardson Calligraphy (SarahScript.com)
(Bryan Brinkman)

Most Influential Artist: Bryan Brinkman

The New York animator tries to display the mystery of Razzlekhan and Lichtenstein, who kicked off this year’s descent into fraud and deception.

(Bryan Brinkman)
(Fesq)

Most Influential Artist: Fesq

The previous programmer creates an image called “The Maestro,” which ties Yat Siu’s music background to his position as a leader in the Asian Web3 gaming industry.

(Fesq)
(Yosnier)

Most Influential Artist: Yosnier

A 23-year-old artist doesn’t want to come across as sympathizing with Sam Bankman-Fried, who lost numerous people’s life savings in FTX's collapse.

(Yosnier)
(Ravi Vora)

Most Influential Artist: Ravi Vora

The Los Angeles-based photographer captured Gary Vaynerchuk and Vayner3 President Avery Akkineni.

(Ravi Vora)
headshot.jpg

Most Influential Artist: Ovie Faruq

The NFT artist sought to depict the "carelessness and neglect" of the "Four Horsemen of the Cryptocalypse" in his NFT art for CoinDesk's Most Influential 2022.

headshot.jpg
(Aleqth)

Most Influential Artist: Alex Headlam (Aleqth)

The artist sought inspiration from Andy Warhol and Tim Burton to create his portrait of Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao.

(Aleqth)
(Dave Krugman)

Most Influential Artist: Dave Krugman

The photographer captured his portrait of Erick Calderon at a Bright Moments NFT art event in Mexico City.

(Dave Krugman)
(Norman Harman)

Most Influential Artist: Norman Harman

The Edinburgh-based artist uses a combination of technologies and brick-and-mortar traditional values to depict Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of Finance and Corporate A...

(Norman Harman)
(Oveck)

Most Influential Artist: Oveck

The New York-based artist depicted one of the year's NFT success stories – Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape phenom – for CoinDesk's Most Influential series.

(Oveck)
(Trevor Jones and Violet Jones/CoinDesk)

Most Influential Artist: Trevor and Violet Jones

The artist couple collaborated for the first time ever on their painting of Alexey Pertsev, the developer arrested for his role in creating Tornado Cash.

(Trevor Jones and Violet Jones/CoinDesk)
Will Ess and Adam Levine of 330AI (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

The Artist and Technology Behind 36 AI Portraits

How to generate three dozen portraits for the Most Influential 2022 in about a week? Meet Pixelmind.ai, the app that saved this CoinDesk feature from visual ennui.

Will Ess and Adam Levine of 330AI (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

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