Most Influential 2023
Lisa Neigut: Reinventing Lightning to Reinvent Bitcoin
The Blockstream developer has been working on what she calls “Lightning v2” since 2019, and it’s poised to launch by year’s end.
Karl Floersch's 'Optimism' Tech Paved the Way for Coinbase's 'Base' Blockchain
The CEO of OP Labs helped create a set of tools that let developers build their own layer-2 chains.
Avery Ching: Aptos Led a Year of 'VC Chains'
With hundreds of millions at stake, Avery Ching, co-founder of one of the year's most-talked-about new projects, has much to prove.
Jesse Pollak Is Putting the Base in Coinbase
Coinbase's layer-2 blockchain, which launched this year, helps the exchange to scale and reduce transaction fees. Rivals, like Kraken, are now said to be launching their own layer 2s. That's why Pollak is part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2023 list.
Cuy Sheffield: The Reason Visa Is 'Everywhere’ in Crypto
Perhaps more than at any other TradFi firm, Visa’s crypto unit under Sheffield has been running experiment after experiment. That's why he's one of CoinDesk's Most Influential of 2023.
Stefan Berger: The Man Who Made MiCA
He steered through the European Union's world-leading Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) this year in the aftermath of FTX and other scandals. He's now working on a digital euro.
Jordi Baylina: Finding Solutions in Zero-Knowledge
One of Ethereum's biggest scalability layers, Polygon, is at the forefront of a new tech trend with the launch of its zkEVM.
Larry Fink: Wall Street's Biggest Bitcoin Believer
BlackRock reignited interest in bitcoin ETFs this year, in part driven by CEO Fink’s strong statements on the role of bitcoin as an international currency.
Rune Christensen Is Making Digital Assets Real
The co-founder of MakerDAO says his biggest achievement this year was bringing real-world assets, like U.S. Treasuries, on-chain and at scale.
Refik Anadol's AI-Driven Work Breaks Big in 2023
Digital artist Refik Anadol's creatively sculpted imaginations generated wonder and discussion as he brought his data-generated artwork from the blockchain to the world’s largest screens.
