A Review of the Top Ten Influential Figures in Bitcoin for 2023

Original Title: "Top 10 Influential Figures in Bitcoin 2023: Will They Call the Shots in 2024?"
Original Author: Huo Huo, Baihua Blockchain

The entire cryptocurrency industry in 2023 has been tumultuous, with the early-year turmoil surrounding Silicon Valley Bank causing continued market fluctuations after the FTX debacle. Subsequently, various regulatory storms began to emerge, leaving industry giants feeling insecure.

However, "crisis" and "opportunity" always coexist. With the Bitcoin halving approaching, expectations for the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs, and the rise of the BRC20 narrative triggering a craze for inscriptions across various public chains, these narratives combined to bring a surge of market enthusiasm towards the end of the year. Bitcoin once surpassed $45,000, with an annual increase of over 150%, marking the beginning of a bull market.

So, amidst these twists and turns, who are the key figures? The direction of the entire market in 2024 will depend on them.

01 Brave Withdrawal ------ CZ

On November 23, 2023, CZ announced his resignation as CEO of Binance, stating that he would not hold an executive position but would retain a majority stake in Binance, while indicating he would step back to become an investor. The news shocked the entire industry.

Why did CZ suddenly resign? The reason is that on November 22, 2023, Binance and its CEO Zhao Changpeng (CZ) pleaded guilty to federal charges in the United States. Binance was accused of three charges, including anti-money laundering violations, operating an unlicensed money transfer business, and violating U.S. sanctions. To facilitate future developments, Binance reached a settlement with the SEC, which came at the cost of a massive $4.368 billion fine, allowing it to continue operations, while CZ resigned.

In fact, this lawsuit has been dragging on for five years. As early as 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating Binance for suspected unlicensed money transfers, money laundering, and violations of U.S. sanctions, but it finally came to a conclusion this year.

Looking back at how Binance grew from a small startup in 2017 to the industry leader it is today, CZ has played an indispensable role. He has built a diversified business system for the industry from scratch, including spot trading, futures, options, mining pools, cloud services, and public chains. Moreover, he transformed what was originally a single CEX into a comprehensive Web3 group, spreading its products, services, and brand influence globally.

Over the past six years, under CZ's leadership, Binance has achieved a leading position in trading platforms, public chains, wallets, and investments. However, as Binance became an industry giant, CZ may have realized that the biggest challenge as an industry leader is no longer competition, but rather the responsibility to lead the cryptocurrency industry towards compliance.

Therefore, after CZ's resignation, some have described it as "burning the small self for the greater good, illuminating the path of compliance and innovation for future generations," even laying the groundwork for the "advancing ETF."

02 A Heavy Blow ------ SEC Chairman

Since taking office as SEC Chairman, especially in 2023, Gary Gensler has launched a strict crackdown on cryptocurrency regulation, making him a prominent figure in the crypto space. Notably, he led the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple and imposed millions of dollars in fines on crypto exchanges like Kraken. This has triggered waves of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) throughout the cryptocurrency industry, raising concerns among other top platforms.

Speaking of his crackdown on crypto, the case that brought him into the spotlight was the SEC's lawsuit against the digital payment protocol Ripple in December 2020. This case severely targeted staking services on crypto platforms under the guise of consumer protection and attempted to classify all tokens as securities.

The recent lawsuit against CZ and Binance is another regulatory milestone for the SEC under Gensler's leadership. In addition to these two crypto lawsuits, unofficial statistics indicate that the SEC has designed other crypto cases, including:

1) Bittrex and its former CEO were accused of operating an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency.

2) Two individuals involved in Ormeus Coin fraud were fined over $23 million.

3) Tron founder Justin Sun and his company were accused of illegally selling unregistered securities, fraud, and market manipulation.

4) Terraform Labs and Do Kwon were accused of orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud.

5) Trade Coin Club was accused of conducting a $295 million crypto Ponzi scheme.

6) The SEC sued Dragonchain, accusing it of unregistered crypto asset securities issuance.

7) The SEC charged 11 individuals suspected of creating and promoting Forsage, involving a $300 million fraudulent Ponzi scheme.

8) The U.S. Second Circuit Court ordered Terraform Labs and Do Kwon to comply with SEC subpoenas.

9) The SEC urgently halted the token distribution of Telegram's cryptocurrency project TON, claiming it involved the sale of unregistered securities.

10) The SEC filed charges against Block.one and reached a settlement by paying a $24 million civil fine, involving the issuance of unregistered digital token EOS.

In summary, as the crypto world grows, the regulatory hammer of the SEC under Gensler looms large.

03 Pillar of the Bear Market ------ Vitalik Buterin

Since its creation in 2014, Ethereum has entered its tenth year, and under Vitalik's leadership, Ethereum has made groundbreaking contributions to the development of crypto, evolving from a platform that could only support digital assets to one that can support various decentralized applications, earning the title of "world computer." If Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of blockchain, then Vitalik Buterin is another key leader in the crypto space.

Vitalik established the earliest Ethereum roadmap: PoW to PoS (Phase 0) → Data Sharding (Phase 1) → Execution Sharding (Phase 2). Subsequently, the roadmap was continuously revised and expanded to focus on Rollup: The Merge, The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge.

Even though Ethereum's overall development in 2023 has been relatively flat, the most significant event was the Shanghai upgrade completed in April, which led to the rise of the staking sector after the upgrade.

In a market environment that was lackluster in 2022, only Ethereum's layer 2 experienced a explosive growth phase at the end of the year, becoming a major highlight extending into the first half of 2023, especially with the leading development of Arbitrum. According to data from L2beat, the total value locked (TVL) in Layer 2 has now reached $20.1 billion (as shown below), providing room for builders during this bear market phase.

Vitalik is more optimistic about Rollup, thus integrating it with privacy protection and zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology. Although the Layer 2 ecosystem is still dominated by OP-Rollup, with advancements in zero-knowledge proof technology, ZK Rollup is likely to become the ultimate Layer 2 solution.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning Ethereum's next upgrade— the Cancun upgrade, which has been reported to officially begin testing on January 17, 2024, barring any unforeseen circumstances. If successful, this will significantly increase the transaction volume of the Ethereum network per second and usher in a new phase of development for Ethereum's data storage and retrieval capabilities, further paving the way for the development of Ethereum Layer 2.

04 Pioneer of the Inscriptions Craze ------ Founder of Ordinals

Recently, the frenzy in the inscriptions market has exceeded many people's expectations, and the pioneer of this event can be traced back to Casey Rodarmor, the founder of Ordinals.

Rodarmor has been working in technology since 2010, having worked at Google and Chaincode Labs, and has contributed to the main code implementation of the Bitcoin core protocol. Last year, he co-hosted Bitcoin BitDevs in San Francisco, which started in New York City as a community that holds monthly meetings to discuss more technical aspects of Bitcoin, forming an important part of Bitcoin's grassroots culture.

At the beginning of this year, the Ordinal protocol developed by Rodarmor enabled Ordinal NFTs and inscriptions to be realized on Bitcoin, marking another attempt at NFTs on Bitcoin since the introduction of colored coins in 2012 and the Counterparty derivatives in 2014.

The Ordinal protocol outlines a method for sequentially numbering satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin, representing one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin). Once a satoshi's serial number is obtained, users can inscribe data onto these satoshis to create digital artifacts, which is Rodarmor's initial description compared to NFTs. As of December 27, 2023, the cumulative fees for minting Ordinals inscriptions reached 5,028 BTC.

Source: dune.com

Rodarmor stated that the inspiration for Ordinals came from Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, who mentioned something called "atoms" in the original Bitcoin codebase.

Currently, Rodarmor is working full-time on Ordinals. In September of this year, he proposed a new design concept for a Bitcoin FT protocol called "Rune," also known as the "Rune" protocol, which has not yet been launched.

Regardless of how the Rune develops in the future, the Ordinals proposed by Rodarmor have inspired the development of BRC20 Tokens, not only igniting the craze for inscriptions but also further advancing the Bitcoin ecosystem.

05 Financial Giant Waiting to Unleash ------ BlackRock CEO

BlackRock applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF on June 15, 2023, which caused a sensation in the crypto industry. The SEC has rejected dozens of similar fund applications over the past decade, but why did BlackRock's application create such a stir in the industry?

On one hand, the SEC has consistently rejected applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs, citing concerns about fraud and market manipulation, aiming to protect investors. The previous collapse of FTX and other events have led to tighter regulations on cryptocurrency companies this year.

On the other hand, as the world's largest asset management company, BlackRock manages assets worth about ten times the entire market capitalization of the cryptocurrency industry. If the ETF application is successfully approved, its massive capital could significantly impact the cryptocurrency industry and drive up crypto asset prices, potentially igniting the next bull market.

Moreover, BlackRock's move has encouraged eight other financial companies, including Fidelity, Invesco, VanEck, Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management, and WisdomTree, to follow suit, all submitting corresponding applications, greatly advancing the development of Bitcoin ETFs.

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, also has a long history with Bitcoin. As early as 2017, Fink stated that he was a "believer" in cryptocurrencies but expressed concerns about speculative activities in the market. On July 16, 2018, he mentioned that BlackRock's clients were not interested in cryptocurrencies and slowed down the company's investment inclination in the field. In 2019, as the market improved, BlackRock hired former Ripple marketing chief Robbie Mitchnick and began exploring the feasibility of cryptocurrencies again. By 2020, he began to change his attitude towards cryptocurrencies, believing they would be necessary and could potentially replace gold. In 2021, Fink stated that he was once again researching Bitcoin but had not reached a definitive conclusion. In 2023, BlackRock submitted its Bitcoin ETF application, with Fink stating that cryptocurrencies are expected to surpass global currencies.

06 Life Sentence ------ SBF

In November 2023, on the first anniversary of the FTX collapse, its founder SBF was convicted on seven charges, including fraud and money laundering, with prosecutors calling it "one of the largest financial fraud cases in U.S. history."

What led to this?

SBF, whose real name is Sam Bankman-Fried, is the co-founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt CEX FTX and crypto company Alameda Research. FTX rose to become the third-largest CEX globally during the 2020 bull market, attracting over a million users and numerous well-known investment institutions, with a peak valuation of $32 billion.

In November 2022, CoinDesk revealed a financial document that exposed potential debt issues between FTX and Alameda Research, triggering panic among users and leading to a bank run. Within days, the FTX group announced bankruptcy, and SBF resigned. In 2021, at the age of 28, SBF made it onto Forbes' 30 Under 30 list, but within just two years, his real-time net worth is now $0.

After FTX's bankruptcy, over $370 million in assets were stolen, prompting an investigation by U.S. prosecutors. To address the chaos, FTX sought help from former regulators, but the company's collapse raised questions about regulation. In court documents, FTX revealed that over $2 billion had been transferred to SBF. FTX is suing SBF and other former executives for misappropriating $1 billion of company funds, with the trial involving 20 witnesses, including the former CEO, SBF's ex-girlfriend, and other executives.

The trial began in early October 2023, lasting a month, with the sentencing date set for March 28, 2024. If SBF is convicted of all charges, he could face a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.

However, on December 30, 2023, it was reported that the U.S. government dropped six charges against SBF, including violations of campaign finance regulations and conspiracy to commit bribery, meaning SBF will not face a second trial.

07 Meme King ------ Elon Musk

Elon Musk's most famous relationship with crypto is undoubtedly his story with Dogecoin, but his connection to crypto dates back much further. As early as 2021, Musk's companies Tesla and SpaceX purchased large amounts of Bitcoin.

After acquiring Twitter in October 2022, on April 5 of this year, Musk changed Twitter's logo to a dog head, causing Dogecoin's price to surge over 20% in an instant. For reference, see the article "What Does Musk's Change of Twitter Logo to Dogecoin Mean?"

Then, on July 30, Twitter changed its classic little blue bird logo to "X," a move that was hailed as having a significant impact on cryptocurrencies. This is because in 1999, Musk co-founded an online financial services and email payment company called X.com, which is now PayPal, becoming one of the earliest and most successful online payment processing companies in the world.

Now, Musk is reshaping Twitter into a broader new service called X, which is likely intended to turn this iconic social media application into a payment platform. Some speculate that he will integrate Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other crypto assets, as well as stablecoins like USDC, especially the billionaire's favorite, Dogecoin.

Thus, Musk is likely to continue bringing significant changes to the crypto industry.

08 Pressing Forward ------ Coinbase CEO

With CZ leaving Binance and SBF in prison, Brian Armstrong has become the most prominent figure still in a difficult position. Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, and he wields considerable influence in the crypto industry.

Firstly, Coinbase launched its own Layer 2 blockchain, Base, and derivatives exchange, Blade, this year, and is expected to launch a Bitcoin ETF in 2024, undoubtedly preparing actively for the next wave of the crypto market.

At the same time, like Binance, Coinbase is also facing regulatory challenges and has been accused of illegal trading. Previously, the SEC classified all tokens as securities, impacting the entire cryptocurrency industry. Armstrong has been pressing forward, likening Coinbase to a local sheriff and calling for action to address the regulatory issues led by U.S. institutions. Armstrong posted on social media platform X, stating, "We can't always grow as quickly as other companies; the nature of the industry makes compliance operations more difficult and costly. The news about Binance further proves that choosing to do the hard thing is the right decision."

In fact, as early as January this year, Coinbase acquired FairX, a derivatives exchange regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This acquisition is a key step for Coinbase to provide crypto derivatives to U.S. retail and institutional clients. He also established the "Stand With Crypto" organization, hoping to protect the industry from government criticism.

From a macro perspective, as Binance faces regulatory pressure and another competitor, Kraken, faces similar accusations, this is a favorable factor for Coinbase's individual development, leading to a 200% increase in Coinbase's stock price this year, with a market capitalization exceeding $25 billion. However, Coinbase's development is not without challenges; it must confront the overall adverse conditions of the crypto market. Although some settlement agreements have resolved significant issues in the crypto space this year, a larger catalyst is still needed to uplift the overall market.

Currently, the next important catalyst is the possibility of regulatory approval for Bitcoin ETFs, and the aforementioned announcement by BlackRock to apply for a Bitcoin ETF, which is to be custodied by Coinbase, has boosted hopes for ETF approval, driving up both Bitcoin and Coinbase's prices. The subsequent developments are worth watching.

09 AI Breakthrough ------ OpenAI CEO

Since the release of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, it quickly became one of the fastest-growing consumer applications in history, reaching 100 million monthly active users within just two months. As a result, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has garnered significant attention.

However, aside from the explosive popularity of ChatGPT at the beginning of the year, last month, a letter sent to the board by several researchers claiming that OpenAI had made a significant AI discovery that could threaten humanity led to a board decision to dismiss Altman, causing a stir.

On November 18, 2023, OpenAI announced on its official website that the current CEO, known as the "father of ChatGPT," Sam Altman, would resign from his position and leave the board. Following this news, a large number of employees announced they would leave alongside him. The news came as a shock, and he subsequently announced the surprising news that he would join Microsoft with his assistant. However, in a twist, just five days after being fired, Sam Altman was reinstated as OpenAI's CEO.

Altman stated on X that his decisions over the past few days, including the choice to join Microsoft, were made to preserve OpenAI's team and mission. Now that OpenAI has a new board and has secured support from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Altman looks forward to returning to OpenAI and maintaining an excellent partnership with Microsoft.

Translation: I love OpenAI; everything I've done in the past few days has been to maintain the integrity of this team and its mission. When I decided to join Microsoft last Sunday, it was clear that this was the best choice for me and the team. With a new board and Satya's support, I…

Additionally, in July of this year, Altman launched the Worldcoin project and token, aimed at addressing global online identity verification and income inequality issues. As most people worldwide currently cannot verify their identity digitally, Worldcoin aims to build the largest and fairest digital identity and currency system globally, helping everyone enter the global financial system. However, the project is currently facing some regulatory hurdles.

As AI is one of the directions worth paying attention to in the crypto space in 2024, Sam Altman is undoubtedly a key figure.

10 Bitcoin Finally Profitable ------ President of El Salvador

Reports indicate that as of December 4, 2023, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele stated that at the current market price of Bitcoin, if sold, not only could 100% of the investment be recovered, but also a profit of over $3.6 million could be made. This achievement is largely due to the efforts of President Nayib Bukele.

As a small country in Central America, El Salvador does not have its own legal currency and has chosen to use the U.S. dollar. This has had some economic impacts, as workers abroad face expensive remittance fees, which is not conducive to increasing GDP. Additionally, about 70% of Salvadorans do not have bank accounts or credit cards. For the government, a stable economy is crucial, and ongoing turmoil is not a good situation. To repair the economy to some extent, El Salvador needs to attract new capital investors.

Aside from external factors, Bukele is also a true Bitcoin enthusiast. Thus, under Bukele's push, on June 9, 2021, El Salvador voted to officially pass a bill making Bitcoin legal tender in the country, becoming the first nation to announce Bitcoin as legal tender. This decision garnered widespread attention globally. Since implementing this policy, El Salvador has actively promoted digital payments and financial inclusion, hoping to provide residents with broader financial services and convenience through the adoption of Bitcoin. Reports indicate that since the announcement of the policy, the country has been purchasing one Bitcoin daily.

Moreover, this move is seen as an innovative attempt at the financial system, which may influence the legal currency policy choices of other countries in the future. Over time, the relationship between El Salvador and Bitcoin will become an important case in the global digital currency experiment.

Appendix 1 Faithful Believer ------ Michael Saylor

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, is a Bitcoin whale and a significant figure in the cryptocurrency space. It is said that he reached a net worth of $3 billion in 2023, holding over 120,000 Bitcoins, which has significantly contributed to his target net worth.

Michael Saylor began investing in Bitcoin in 2020. He purchased a large amount of Bitcoin personally at MicroStrategy and invested company funds into Bitcoin. In the following months, Saylor doubled or even tripled his bets on Bitcoin, borrowing over $2 billion in debt to buy more volatile cryptocurrencies. Since then, Saylor has been a staunch supporter of Bitcoin.

As companies like FTX, Three Arrows Capital, and Celsius went bankrupt, last year was undoubtedly a year of perseverance for crypto investors. However, even in the "cyclical low" of Bitcoin, Saylor continued to support it. On November 13 of this year, Saylor looked ahead to Bitcoin's future at the 2023 Australia Cryptocurrency Conference. He emphasized the upcoming Bitcoin halving event in 2024, predicting that this would mark Bitcoin's "coming of age" phase as a mainstream asset, with large tech companies and banks widely adopting Bitcoin and integrating it into their products and services between 2024 and 2028.

Appendix 2 Just Buy Bitcoin ------ Robert Kiyosaki, Author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad"

According to the latest news on December 11, author Robert Kiyosaki of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" posted on platform X, stating that the U.S. government is stealing wealth through the people's money, and it's not too late to realize this now. The banking system has gone bankrupt, and he urges people to act while they can still buy gold, silver, and Bitcoin. Robert Kiyosaki also mentioned that many of his warnings have come true, and the next warning target is the S&P, which will severely impact millions of 401k and personal retirement accounts.

Translation: I want to thank Smart Silver Stacker because since 2010, he has been mocking my advice to encourage people to buy and store silver. Like Paul Revere or Chicken Little, it is not easy to warn people that the U.S. government is stealing our wealth through our currency. But you can laugh as long as you want. It is still not too late; our banking system has gone bankrupt. Take action while you still have the chance to buy gold, silver, and Bitcoin. In the end, your friends and family will laugh at you just like Smart Silver Stacker laughs at me. By the way, I predicted the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 on Wolf's show, and you can find me on CNN's Wolf Blitzer show. Wolf laughed at that time too. In 2023, I appeared on Fox Business's Neil Cavuto show, predicting the collapse of banking giant Credit Suisse and mentioning that UBS might be next. Feel free to laugh; the global banking crisis is right in front of us. Remember my warnings in "Rich Dad Poor Dad," published in 1997: "Savers are losers" and "Your house is not an asset," which became a reality in 2008. People are still laughing at those predictions from 1997. Stay tuned for my next warning. The S&P will be next, which will severely impact millions of 401k and IRA accounts. Take care. Many people interested in finance have read "Rich Dad Poor Dad," published in 1997, which has sold millions of copies and has been translated into over 50 languages, making its author, Robert Toru Kiyosaki, a prominent figure in finance. His connection to crypto began in 2017 when he started expressing interest in Bitcoin and began advising people to pay attention to and understand cryptocurrencies.

Moreover, this month's call is not the first time Robert has promoted Bitcoin. In 2022, Robert Kiyosaki also tweeted that Bitcoin is almost like a commodity, more like gold, silver, or oil. Additionally, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has classified Bitcoin as a commodity, while other cryptocurrencies are considered securities.

Translation:
Question: Are you investing in Bitcoin? Answer: Yes, I am investing. I am very excited about Bitcoin. Why? Because Bitcoin is classified as a commodity, just like gold, silver, and oil. Most crypto tokens are classified as securities, and the SEC's regulations will destroy most of them. I am buying more Bitcoin. I am just publicly expressing support for Bitcoin and other crypto assets, indicating that I am a Bitcoin investor, but I have not disclosed how much I have invested.

13 Conclusion

Although 2023 is a low point in the crypto cycle, both crypto speculators and true builders are pushing the crypto industry forward in their own ways.

The influence of these key figures not only affects market trends but also plays a leading or promoting role in the future development of cryptocurrencies. Regardless of how the industry evolves, over time, they will undoubtedly be an important part of this historical tapestry.