The 20 Most Influential Crypto Bloggers of 2020
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1. Andreas M. Antonopoulos
2. Linda Xie
3. David Gilbertson
4. Vitalik Buterin
5. Brian Armstrong
6. Maria Bustillos
7. Joon Ian Wong
8. Adolph Obasogie
9. Alyssa Hertig
10. Jon Matonis
11. Josiah Wilmoth
12. Don Tapscott
13. Laura Shin
14. Andy Greenberg
15. James Moreau
16. Mihai Alisie
17. Tiana Laurence
18. Evander Smart
20. Richard Kastelein
While there are dozens, if not
hundreds of great article writers centered on cryptocurrencies, naturally some
are better than others. They all try their best, of course, but some of them
have more knowledge, or a better way of spreading it, that simply makes their
predictions more accurate and their explanations easier to understand.
To help you find some of those crypto
writers you’ll want to follow, we have gathered a small list with twenty of them,
along with why they’re so good and where to find them.
1. Andreas M. Antonopoulos
One of the biggest independent names
in the cryptocurrency sphere, Antonopoulos has made it his duty to educate the
world about the possibilities and uses of blockchain. His extensive work
reaches all mediums, including not only articles but also whole books and even
series of YouTube videos and appearances.
Andreas’s first huge success in the
crypto space was his 2014 book “Mastering Bitcoin,” where his attempts to reach
the masses were both heard and well received. Ever since, he’s become a
full-time cryptocurrency advocate, with his term “The Internet of Money”
becoming an oft-used one when describing Bitcoin.
One of the reasons many people look
to him rather than others is his background: While many of the most followed,
well-informed cryptocurrency are directly involved in the development of one or
more blockchains, Andreas isn’t.
While these days he’s often part of committees
on blockchain studies, he doesn’t have a direct stake, nor is he working on a
blockchain project. Instead, Andreas is simply a cryptocurrency enthusiast, and
this particularly standing means his writing is aimed to the layman rather than
the programmer.
You can follow Andreas on Twitter, watch informative videos on his YouTube channel, or read his
articles in Medium. You can also
purchase his books on Amazon, or even tune up to his Let’s Talk Bitcoin
series of podcasts.
2. Linda Xie
With a B.A. in Economics from UC San
Diego, Xie rose to prominence as the product manager of Coinbase, a position
that by itself draws a lot of attention. Her love and interest for
cryptocurrencies then led her towards crypto investment, an endeavor that
eventually led to creating Scalar Capital, a $20 million fund for blockchain
projects where developers are funded in exchange for tokens.
Linda’s involvement with the
community goes beyond funding and investment, often making statements about why
blockchain is the future and which projects she considers more relevant. Her
involvement with cryptocurrencies, along with her work helping bring blockchain
to the masses, earned her a spot on the Forbes 30 under 30 for finances in
2019.
Linda’s articles can be found mostly
in Medium, although she also posts
on her personal website and is quite
active on Twitter. She has also
participated in several conferences and podcasts, with media from her
appearances often posted publicly and further disseminated by a list she keeps
updated on her website.
3. David Gilbertson
For those looking for a more
technical look at blockchain, Gilbertson’s articles aren’t precisely written
for the layman as they tend to edge on development and why it works. This makes
him an excellent source to learn deeper details about blockchain and
cryptocurrencies, all the while gathering valuable knowledge on other
IT-related areas, as he writes about many aspects of development, particularly
on the web side of things.
Gilbertson isn’t the most prominent
figure in the community, as his involvement with blockchain and
cryptocurrencies is limited, and, unlike our previous two writers, he isn’t
dedicated to the cryptocurrency sphere nor does he spend all of his time
writing about it. Instead, his main attractive is his vast knowledge of the web
environment, starting with his long track record as a website developer and
software engineer.
In the end, while Gilbertson’s articles
might not be for everyone, he’s one of the most gifted sources of development
knowledge on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and websites, particularly if you’re
interested in the security aspect of things.
David’s articles can be read on Medium and Hackernoon, with smaller
tidbits often shared to his
twitter account.
4. Vitalik Buterin
While many would expect Buterin to
not need naming, newcomers to cryptocurrencies might fail to grasp who he is –
or why there is so much reverence towards him from the community.
Buterin is one of the biggest
proponents and contributors in the blockchain sphere although, if we were to
list his achievements and relevant activities, we should start by simply
pointing out he’s the co-founder of Ethereum and Bitcoin Magazine. That alone
gives his voice extreme weight, as it was Ethereum that kickstarted the second
wave of cryptocurrencies and popularized smart contracts. On top of that,
Ethereum is still one of the most popular blockchains and is constantly updated
to keep it in line with what newer blockchain projects offer.
On the academic side of things,
Buterin isn’t the most lauded member of the community – his studies consisting
mostly of a B.A. in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. However, as
common in the IT field, his achievements speak more for him than any degrees
might – and his success landed him on the Forbes’s 30 under 30 list for
finances in 2018.
Knowing this, it’s no wonder that
Buterin is also a prolific Blockchain writer, often going into details on how
Ethereum and its many updates work while also tackling proposals and implementations
from other blockchain projects. The many sites he’s written for include Medium, Bitcoin Magazine,
the Ethereum Blog, and naturally his own website.
Like many people in the community,
Vitalik is very active on Twitter,
often using the platform to disseminate both his own articles and takes and
those of other influential figures.
5. Brian Armstrong
Many of the most influential figures
in the blockchain community are directly related to blockchain development.
This isn’t surprising, considering the blockchain and crypto spheres are
largely made up of people from IT circles, where those interested in the
products are often the same people developing them.
One curious point of the crypto
community, however, is that not only are developers and crypto designers
influential. There are also many figures whose thoughts and opinion carry
weight whose jobs aren’t developing cryptocurrencies, but orbiting around them
– with one of the largest figures here being Brian Armstrong.
The fact that Armstrong isn’t the
mind behind a cryptocurrency or blockchain project might set some people off at
first – that is, until his credentials as the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase
make it clear he is a central figure in the community.
Armstrong holds several degrees in
economy, and has amassed a fortune with his work in the cryptocurrency
community, turning him into a billionaire in late 2018.
As many in the community, Armstrong
is very active on Medium, mostly
posting for the Coinbase blog. He’s also been featured on Fortune, and his takes
on the crypto sphere and what
to expect in the future are important for the community, often landing him
in crypto
news sites.
As common among the cryptocurrency community,
he’s also very active on Twitter,
often using it to comment on the current state of the crypto market and the
economy as a whole.
6. Maria Bustillos
Where some writers champion the cause
of cryptocurrencies or investing, Bustillos takes a different direction by
championing not just the blockchain – but also the ways in which it can change
our economy and, in this case, her own branck.
Bustillos rose to prominence within
the Blockchain world early on, as she started writing about cryptocurrencies
back in 2013 and, soon enough, investing in them while trying to bring them to
the masses. Her biggest contribution to the crypto world besides her writings
is her publishing ventures: Bustillo works as an editor for popula.com, a
web-based publication that often posts its content to civil.co, one of the
leading blockchain-based journalism systems.
A long-time believer of the changes
blockchain can bring to writers and how journalism is handled and distributed,
she’s credited for having uploaded the very first journalism article straight
to the Ethereum blockchain, while often championing the way blockchain-based
networks such as the already mentioned Civil or Steem.
Her work can be read mainly in her Medium channel, although she
has also contributed in several occasions with articles for The New Yorker.
7. Joon Ian Wong
Joon Ian Wong was the manager for
European and Asian affairs of Coindesk, granting him a very visible and
influential position in the cryptosphere. His journalism credits extend far
beyond it, however, as he has also held influential positions at Quartz, where
he held the position of European Technology Correspondent, before returning to
Coindesk as the head of Programming Consensus. Other journalism credits include
stints in many parts of the world, including Shanghai, New York City, and Kuala
Lumpur.
As one of the heads of Coindesk,
Wong’s takes and reports are guaranteed to be accurate and well-informed, this
being naturally the main reason his readers follow him closely. Since the bulk
of his work these days centers around digital currencies, crypto fans and
investors are assured to receive a distilled, clean string of reports.
Woo’s fields of expertise are
naturally broad, allowing him to report on general market movements at the same
time as he can go on talks over other, more frivolous aspects of the
cryptosphere. Nonetheless, he’s one of the main writers you should follow and
listen to if you’re interested in knowing what’s going on in the cryptocurrency
world – both the important, breaking news, and the smaller, niche ones that may
well obtain relevance in the future.
Most of his work can be found at Quartz and Coindesk. As most
people in the crypto world, he also has a heavily curated Twitter presence.
8. Adolph Obasogie
The onset of the crypto world came with
sparse information on what it was all about. There was a huge demand for
writers who knew about financial terms and tech in those early days. Adolph Obasogie came onto the scene in this
vein.
He’s not a blockchain developer or a
massive investor. Adolph Obasogie is a Chartered Accountant and one of the earliest
prolific cryptocurrency writers. He has authored several pages on Medium and is
the brain behind the whitepapers of some of the most successful blockchain projects
so far.
He is a knowledgeable tech enthusiast
working as a contributing writer to several blockchain-related web
publications. On top of that, Adolph regularly writes about financial and
investment tips, gaining him a following among people who are new to
cryptocurrencies, and others who are keen on investing. He has rolled out more
than 1,000 articles each year since 2013.
Adolph might not be a very lauded
writer – in a list where many of our entries have received awards, published
best-sellers, or worked for companies like Forbes, Adolph is certainly an odd
choice. However, it’s this everyday-guy image what helped propel him here:.
While
many technology enthusiasts look for the best, most-lauded from the world,
newcomers and less demanding readers often just want someone to relate to – and
in Adolph who is extremely prolific as a writer, they find just that.
Adolph writes for Finance Minutes, USBlasting
News, and BeinCrypto among others.
His Amazon
Central writer’s page is brimming with updates. He is also presently the Lead
Partner at Harrison Global Capital
9. Alyssa Hertig
Hertig is a bit of an odd fish among
the writing community, for a very peculiar reason: She’s very knowledgeable on
cryptocurrencies, has an extensive body of work published about blockchain, is
a full member of CoinDesk’s editorial team, and… has no cryptocurrency holdings
of her own.
That last point is what makes her an
outlier and, for many people, it’s enough to turn them off from following.
However, whatever her reasons not to invest in cryptocurrencies, they don’t at
all deny or diminish her expertise: Many of her articles go deep into details
about how blockchain works, often with a focus on explaining blockchain-related
events and terminology in layman terms. Her article on time
warp attacks on the Bitcoin blockchain is often referred to as an excellent
and insightful piece of blockchain journalism.
As part of Coindesk’s editorial team,
naturally most of her articles can be found on that very website.
However, she has also written for high-profile sites such as Nasdaq, and
occasionally published on Vice.
She also has a twitter account, although it is
much less crypto-centered than those of others in the community.
10. Jon Matonis
An economist with a long, varied
career, Matonis is one of the most experienced and successful figures in the
blockchain world today. Although his current titles of e-money researcher and
cryptoeconomist might make it sound like he’s a newcomer, he has in the past
worked with large companies like Visa (as head of FX trading), Verisign (as
part of their Startup Team), and Hushmail (as CEO). He’s currently the Chief
Economist at Cypherpunk Holdings.
On the cryptocurrency front, Matonis
has served as part of the Board of Directors of the Bitcoin Foundation, all the
while being an invaluable source of information about the crypto sphere, how it
is expected to develop, and how it relates to our mainstream economy.
His publications are plenty and
varied, with high-profile sites such as Coindesk, American Banker,
and Forbes
listing him among their contributors. His Medium channel also has plenty of
publications, while his Twitter
account, although far less active than that of the average crypto
journalist, can be a good source of information on both general and crypto
economy.
11. Josiah Wilmoth
One of the most prolific crypto
writers, Wilmoth started his career in an unlikely way: As a high-school
teacher. It was only in 2014 that he switched jobs, a move that started with
him joining CCN (short for Crypto Coins News) and eventually led to a full-time
position as assistant editor at the same website.
In the almost six years since joining
CCN, Wilmoth has authored more than 2,000 articles, their subjects ranging from
the most basic to the deepest, most complex aspects of the crypto market. This
has made him the go-to writer for all kinds of readers, since he’s known for
being able to deliver interesting, insightful articles independently of your
level of expertise.
Wilmoth’s mark on the crypto
community is huge – his articles have been featured in important publications
such as Business Insider, Yahoo Finances, and NPR.
As one would expect, he is most
active at CCN, where a
few articles of his are posted every week. He has also published stories for Inside Bitcoins,
and Yahoo Finances often features either original articles by him or reposts
from his work at CCN.
12. Don Tapscott
Tapscott is the man to follow if
you’re not only interested in cryptocurrencies, but in economy in general. A
renowned business executive and speaker who made his name long before bitcoin
or blockchain were even ideas in Satoshi’s mind, Tapscott has decades of
experience and successes to show. His prior endeavors include work as an
adjunct professor at INSEAD and being the chancellor of Trent University in
Ontario.
His focus towards the economy has
always been technology and how it can change – thus, it’s not a surprise that
he developed an interest in blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. During
the last decade that has been his focus, having authored dozens of articles and
books on the matter, with his 2016 book Blockchain Revolution being often
referenced in bibliography about the subject.
Currently, Tapscott is the CEO of the
Tapscott Group and a co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Blockchain
Research Institute. He sometimes contributes to Coindesk and regularly
posts about economy and blockchain on his own
website.
13. Laura Shin
If there’s anyone who can attract
more attention towards cryptocurrencies than the many enthusiastic
personalities that regularly talk about it in conferences, that sure would be
somebody who is just as enthusiastic and knowledgeable of the blockchain, all
the while being a Senior Editor at Forbes with previous experience writing for
Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
Enter Laura Shin, who fits this
profile perfectly, and whose articles and massive platform can be credited with
having allowed many people to learn what blockchain and cryptocurrencies are,
straight from the mouth (or fingers) of a figure they can trust from a
long-standing, influential economy publication. Shin is, in fact, often
credited as the very first prominent full-time crypto journalist.
Although Shin is no longer working at
Forbes, she continues working as a crypto journalist, most famously from her Unchained podcast, where she
speculates about the market and regularly interviews influential figures to the
community. During 2019, the podcast’s prominence rose to the point that she
held a live conference, allowing the community to hold conversations with its
main figures in real-time.
Shin’s articles can still be read at Forbes. Her
podcasts over at Unchained are also posted along with a transcript, so that
those who don’t have the time to listen to long conversations can still peruse
them. She’s due to publish a book on the history of Blockchain, possibly in
late 2020.
14. Andy Greenberg
Greenberg is another of those writers
who, although not entirely dedicated to crypto journalism, can still be
credited for helping many readers learn about and jump into the cryptocurrency
market. In this case, Greenberg has done this work from Wired, where he
currently works as a Senior Editor.
From Wired, Greenberg has used his
expertise in technology and security to inform Wired’s readers about
blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and why they’re part of our future. Greenberg’s
previous stints as a writer, which include working as a reporter in Forbes, had
already solidified his credibility, thus leading him to become an instrumental
part of the process of mainstream crypto adoption.
Besides his work at Forbes and Wired,
Greenberg’s career has been lauded in several occasion – most importantly in
2019 when he received the Geral Loeb Award for International Reporting thanks
to his article “The Code that Crashed the World: The Untold Story of NotPetya,
the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History.”
You can find Greenberg’s articles at Wired and Forbes. He’s also active
on Twitter and has authored
several widely published books on IT and security topics.
15. James Moreau
James Moreau is a prolific crypto
journalist, software content marketer, and social media guru whose work over
the last decade has been heavily based in blockchain. While not a huge figure
in the technical side of things, he has worked regularly with high-profile
figures and companies involved in cryptocurrency, often helping them come up
with strategies to both launch and publicize their products and ideas.
His involvement with the community
also goes a bit further than just coming up with strategies: Moreau’s work as a
journalist, although not as lauded as that of some of his peers, is extensive
and ranges from explanations of the inner working of blockchain systems to
profiles on relevant people and companies in the area, covering both news and
the state of the market often on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and blockchain in general.
Moreaus’s recent work includes stints at
Witnet and Consensys, companies he both writes and offers support for. His
articles can be found at Medium and CCN. He’s also active on Twitter.
16. Mihai Alisie
One of the original founders of
Bitcoin Magazine (along with Vitalik Buterin, who was already mentioned on this
list,) Alisie is one of blockchain’s largest influencers, not only as a writer
but as a businessman himself.
Alisie served as the Editor-in-chief
of said publication for two years, until 2013, when he… went on to co-found the
Ethereum project, which resulted in one of the largest blockchains in our world
today. He’s often credited with helping set up the Ethereum foundation,
particularly from the structural and legal standpoints. He then worked on the
foundation as its Strategic Manager and Vice-president, until 2015 when he once
more went on to found the Akasha platform.
Alisie isn’t a particularly prolific
writer, but, as happens with his friend Buterin, his words are extremely
influential thanks to his standing in the community and proven successes. Some
of is articles are available at the Bitcoin Magazine
website, although many of them were subscriber-only and haven’t been made
public. He’s also written articles and insights and posted them on his Akasha profile.
Like most in the community, Alisie
has a Twitter account, although
he’s not as active there as other prominent members.
17. Tiana Laurence
While many people look down at the
For Dummies series of book, considering them silly and extremely basic (which
they tend to be,) they are also among the best, most commonly sought books when
people want an introduction to a subject.
Tiana Laurence understood this, which
led her to author Blockchain For Dummies, released in 2017. That book alone was
enough to put her in many people’s radars, although that’s far from her only
blockchain-related endeavor. She is currently the CMO of Factom, a
blockchain-as-a-service company from Texas that has, among other things, a
partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security to work on blockchain
projects. Among the company’s earlier accolades there’s also obtaining a grant
from the Gates Foundation.
Laurence’s main focus as a speaker
for blockchain is its potential to reshape the world as we see it – making
tasks that can be confusing or require lots of paperwork simple, while bringing
transparency to areas that have been historically difficult to keep track of.
Besides her book on blockchain,
Laurence is a semi-regular contributor to Techtarget.
She has also contributed to Coincentral and Computerworld,
and regularly posts in her own
blog. For updates on her writing and work, you can follow her on Twitter.
18. Evander Smart
Once a Wall Street banker, Evander
Smart is exactly the kind of person whose thoughts and insights you would
listen to right away, as he’s guaranteed to have more knowledge and experience
with the economy than most people in the world. Losing his belief in how our
economy works led him to a career shift of sorts, and nowadays he uses his
expertise to invest on and try to build a worldwide blockchain economy.
Smart’s body of work is heavily based
on spreading the word about the many possibilities of blockchain, usually
explaining why cryptocurrencies are money, proposing the use of blockchain to
solve many of the economic problems in the developing world, and even going
into sociological aspects of it to argue how cryptocurrencies can help solve
inequality.
Besides writing about
cryptocurrencies, Smart also writes about the economy itself, giving his
readers a window to the whole worldwide economy. His articles can be found in
many sites, including Bitcoinist,
Bitcoin.com, CCN, and Cointelegraph.
19. Trent Lapinski
Trent Lapinski is at the same time an
entrepreneur, writer, and enthusiast not only of cryptocurrencies but of
everything coming from the tech world. His profile is quite varied, as he’s
been active in startup and IT communities since his teens, solidifying his
position as a knowledgeable and trustable source of information during the last
decade.
Lapinski currently works as a
consultant and adviser for startups, a job that has taken him all over the
world, since his extensive expertise means he can handle not only one, but most
of a startup’s areas at the same time. While working as a consultant he also
worked on several startups of his own, further adding weight to his experience
and desirability in the area.
In recent years he has dedicated most
of his time to exploring opportunities in blockchain, a shift that can be seen
in his articles that have become more and more blockchain-themed, although he
still works on several high-level IT subjects such as AI, cloud computing, and
distributed networks.
Most of Lapinski’s articles are
published in Medium and Techpost. He’s also a common
contributor to Hackernoon,
and he’s currently the anchor of the Hackernoon podcast, where he interviews
relevant figures in the technology world.
20. Richard Kastelein
One of Blockchain’s largest figures,
Kastelein has been involved with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general for
about as long as they have existed. His career also extends far beyond that, as
he was already an accomplished writer before Bitcoin became a thing. His
collaborations have been published by many high-profile publications such as
Wired, Harvard Business Review, and The Guardian.
Most importantly for the blockchain
area, Kastelein is the lead publisher for the-blockchain.com, a news site
dedicated to blockchain that boasts regular articles and half a decade in
existence. Besides that, he has participated as a speaker on keynotes and
panels in several dozen blockchain conferences all over the world, and sits in
the advisory board of about half a dozen blockchain startups.
His position as head of a large
blockchain-related news site makes him a respected, often-quoted source that
often appears listed among the main influencers in the community. Moreover, his
extensive body of work, comprised of over 2500 articles written and published
over the years, vouch for him as a regular, reliable source on blockchain news.
You can read Kastelen’s articles at the-blockchain.
He is also regularly active on Twitter.
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