To be able to understand the ins and outs of the crypto industry, you need to have the latest and most accurate crypto-related info. The cryptocurrency world is a fast-moving one and you need reliable sources of information to always stay on top of industry trends.
The easiest way to do this is to listen to people who know what they are saying, have been in the industry for ages, and know blockchain networks inside out. This narrows down your crypto news sources to two groups of professionals: crypto influencers and crypto experts.
Influencers vs Experts
Both influencers and experts are well-versed in all things blockchain-related. However, to be able to learn from each of these two categories of people, you first need to understand how they are different.
Crypto Experts are people with broad and deep competence in terms of experience, knowledge, skills, and thought process. They are usually the ones that create new protocol improvements, create easy to use software for new people, founders of projects, innovators, and computer scientists. They are the ones working behind the scenes in order for everything to function without hiccups.
Crypto influencers, on the other hand, are also prominent in the crypto community, but come from other walks of life. These are cryptocurrency journalists, technology trendsetters, Twitter enthusiasts, and influential crypto traders. They have valuable knowledge to share too, but look at things from a different perspective.
Why you should follow them?
The great thing about these two groups of people is that they have a lot to share and are more than willing to do that. Their accumulated knowledge can help you stay on top of the latest cryptocurrency trends and the only thing you need to do is follow them.
You can find and follow the leading blockchain experts in the field at wallets.com/crypto-influencers/. Most of them are very active on Twitter and YouTube and that means there will be no shortage of quality crypto advice once you start listening to what they say.
Let’s look at several individuals that can help you understand all things blockchain-related. These have different backgrounds so each one will give you a unique perspective of the industry.
Developers
Vitalik Buterin – co-founder of Ethereum
Even if you are a complete crypto outsider, you have probably heard of Vitalik Buterin, the Russian-Canadian programmer and co-founder of Ethereum. Many people consider Ethereum as their first port of call when it comes to running smart contracts, preferring it over other blockchain projects.
Charlie Lee – Founder of Litecoin
Charlie Lee is another person that the crypto world listens to when he speaks. He is a former Google employee and the founder of Litecoin.
People refer to Litecoin as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Lee used Bitcoin’s code to create his cryptocurrency and as a result, Bitcoin and Litecoin share a lot of features.
Their similarities also mean that Litecoin can be used as a testing project for future improvements on Bitcoin and that Lee can share valuable knowledge on both blockchain systems.
Nick Szabo – created the smart contracts concept
Nick Szabo is the man who created the concept of smart contracts back in 1997. The concept has lots of fundamental applications beyond Bitcoin and is the most promising technology when looking towards the future.
It’s interesting to note that Szabo’s BitGold project and Bitcoin aren’t that similar. That being said many people think that Szabo is the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto who created Bitcoin.
Founders
Jack Dorsey – CEO of Twitter
Jack Dorsey is the CEO of Twitter and a huge fan of Bitcoin. He is most famous in the Bitcoin community for sponsoring a team of Bitcoin Core developers.
Dorsey’s people are currently working on improving various Bitcoin protocols. Chief among these is solving the cyptocurrency scalability issue, a project that Dorsey publicly endorsed.
Changpeng Zhao – co-founder and CEO of Binance
Changpeng Zhao, also known as ‘CZ’, is the CEO of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. The exchange is very popular in the crypto community and constantly churns out new products and services.
CZ allegedly spent $400 million in April 2020 to buy CoinMarketCap. The move sent shockwaves around the world and turned CZ into one of the most important people in the crypto universe.
The thing that you should be interested in, though, is that CZ admits to spending 20% of his time working on Twitter. That’s a great opportunity to get some top-quality crypto info first-hand.
Jihan Wu – CEO of Bitmain
Jihan Wu is most famous for being the founder and current CEO of Bitmain. Bitmain is the leading ASIC provider in the world. In fact, most of the machines used to mine Bitcoin are designed and produced by Wu’s company.
Investors/Traders
Naval Ravikant – co-founder and CEO of AngelList
Naval is the co-founder and CEO of AngelList, a company that helps startups with finances and recruitment. He is a very influential person in the business world, but is also a strong advocate of Bitcoin. He has spoken many times of his admiration for blockchain technology and believes that it is the next step in peer-to-peer communication.
Winklevoss Brothers – Early Bitcoin investors
The Winklevoss Brothers are most famous in the crypto world for being two of the earliest investors in the Bitcoin space. They launched their cryptocurrency exchange Gemini back in 2014 and, if you follow the news, you may have heard that they also sued Facebook (successfully) for $95 million in the early 2010s.
Luke Martin – Experienced trader
Luke Martin, also known as the Venture Coinist on Twitter, is a very experienced crypto trader. He has been teaching people how to trade crypto for years and also has a top-notch podcast that you should check out.
In his podcast, he invites crypto influencers and experts and that’s a great opportunity to get some insiders’ info on the newest technologies and developments.
There is a serious need for more blockchain experts in the industry as more and more companies and countries are increasingly showing interest in the technology. ColdFusion has made a brief video explaining how blockchain has already hit mainstream without people noticing.