Luuk Strijers: Pioneering Bitcoin Options
The CEO at Deribit, has shown years of transformative leadership in the crypto derivatives space.
June 2025
Rune Christensen: Revamping the Maker/Sky
The issuer behind the largest decentralized stablecoin had a rebrand and looks set to benefit from clearer DeFi rules in the U.S.
Pump.Fun: Solana’s Memecoin Juggernaut
The site cemented Solana as the number-one place to launch and trade brand-new memecoins, for better and worse.
Tether’s Paolo Ardoino: Building Beyond USDT
Tether continued to rake in billions from its leading stablecoin. But, this year, it also invested more widely, in payments, telecoms, AI and bitcoin mining.
Julia Leung: Hong Kong’s Crypto Proponent
The CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission is playing a critical role in the region’s bid to establish itself as a küresel hub for crypto.
Optimism’s Jing Wang and the Widely Adopted OP Stack
With Uniswap, World, Kraken, and Sony’s Blockchain Labs all adopting Optimism technology, Optimism was a clear winner in the Ethereum scaling race this year.
Lily Liu: Solana’s Powerhouse Ambassador
Solana Foundation’s President may be the busiest person in crypto and one of the smartest.
Ansem: The Memecoin King
He trades. He tweets. He fights. He’s the consummate crypto trader-influencer. Danny Nelson spent a day with Ansem as he prepared to meet Bitboy.
The Truth Terminal: AI-Crypto’s Weird Future
Andy Ayrey’s AI chatbot showed how decentralized AI can make crypto, build community and even turn stories into reality.
Adam Sullivan: The Man Who Made Mining Sexy Again
Core Scientific’s CEO pioneered the highly lucrative move by bitcoin miners into AI computation work.