Here’s a list of 10 people you may or may not have heard of who have a lot of influence in the crypto space. In no particular order, here they are.
Hester Pierce
Current SEC Commissioner, also known as ‘Crypto Mom’ for her ardent support of the cryptocurrency space and vocal opposition to the SEC preventing a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Kelly Loeffler
Former Republican Georgia Senator (served only 1 year after Johnny Isakson stepped down for health reasons) who is also the former CEO of Bakkt.
Rand Paul
Senator from Kentucky has been a vocal supporter of crypto and precious metals. In a recent interview with Axios, Senator Paul said, “I’ve started to question now whether or not cryptocurrency could actually become the reserve currency of the world as more and more people lose confidence in government.”
Eric Adams
Democrat Mayor of New York City, NY. Took his first three paychecks in Bitcoin ($BTC.X) and Ethereum ($ETH.X).
Francis Suarez
Republican Mayor of Miami, Florida. He is the first major politician to take his salary entirely in cryptocurrency. Also, um, MiamiCoin.
Cynthia Lumis
Republican Senator from Wyoming. Teamed up with Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to introduce the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
Kirsten Gillibrand
Democrat Senator from New York. If you’re looking for some political bi-partisan activity, two Senators, one from a very conservative state (Wyoming) and one from a very liberal state (New York), agreeing on something as polarizing as crypto is a big good sign. The crypto community loves that these two want the CFTC to oversee the crypto space – not the SEC.
Elon Musk
I don’t think much has to be said about this guy.
Mark Cuban
It’s been fun watching Shark Tank over the years and seeing the Sharks change from being major critics of crypto to some of its most ardent supporters. Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks accept crypto. But he’s been in a little bit of hot water with the Voyager debacle.
Mark Green
Never heard about this guy until going through Congress and Senate filings. Mark Green is a Republican Representative from Tennessee, and this guy clearly trades. He traded Dogecoin ($DOGE.X), EOS ($EOS.X), Ethereum Classic (ETC.X), and Stellar ($XLM.X). Made a nearly 800% gain on his Dogecoin trades.