Most Influential 2022

Rostin Behnam and Gary Gensler (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
The ‘Good Cop and Bad Cop’ of US Crypto Regulations
The ongoing tug-of-war between the top two federal regulatory agencies keeps the crypto industry on its toes. That’s why Gary Gensler and Rostin Behnam share a spot on CoinDes...
Rostin Behnam and Gary Gensler (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

Craig Wright v Hodlonaut (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
The Bullied Takes the Bully to Court
David beat Goliath in an Oslo courtroom in September, establishing a legal precedent for the freedom to say a self-proclaimed inventor of Bitcoin is not actually the pseudonym...
Craig Wright v Hodlonaut (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

"Crocodile of Wall Street" (Bryan Brinkman/CoinDesk)
The 'Crocodile of Wall Street' and Her Husband Face Trial
Words fail when describing the infamous crypto couple who allegedly laundered $4.5 billion. He’s behind bars and she’s put her raunchy rap videos on hold, but Hollywood is cal...
"Crocodile of Wall Street" (Bryan Brinkman/CoinDesk)

Jordan Fish aka Cobie (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
The Everyman of Crypto Twitter
The host of the “Up Only” podcast has tracked the scams and issues with crypto in real time, even taking down an inside trader at Coinbase. That’s why Jordan Fish aka Cobie is...
Jordan Fish aka Cobie (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

"Portrait Wall" (Norman Harman/CoinDesk)
The Force Behind a 1% Tax That Crushed Indian Crypto Trading
All signs indicate India’s powerful finance minister disdains cryptocurrencies, and now she is setting the G-20 agenda for how the world's economic powers will regulate it. Th...
"Portrait Wall" (Norman Harman/CoinDesk)

Jerome Powell (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
He Who Should Not Have an Impact on Crypto
Crypto aspires to function without monetary oversight, but this year the U.S. Federal Reserve’s chair proved how far from reality this goal is at a time of high interest rates...
Jerome Powell (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

Larry Fink (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
BlackRock CEO’s Crypto About-Face
The actions by the head of the $10 trillion asset management firm say that crypto is ready for mainstream investment. That’s why Larry Fink is one of CoinDesk’s Most Influenti...
Larry Fink (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
The Senate’s Biggest Crypto Regulations Cheerleaders
The U.S. Congress’ upper chamber has introduced a bipartisan, comprehensive crypto-responsibility bill, with another stablecoin regulations bill on its way. That’s why senator...
Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

Amir Haleem (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)
Reality Sticks a Pin in His Hot-Air Dreams
Taking lessons from Napster, Helium Systems CEO envisions a peer-to-peer network powered by the blockchain. The company's market cap rose to $2.5 billion on hopes and promise,...
Amir Haleem (Will Ess for Pixelmind.ai/CoinDesk)

Punk6529 and Michael Casey at Consensus 2022 (Suzanne Cordeiro/Shutterstock/CoinDesk)
The Punk Fighting for an Open Metaverse
A pseudonymous NFT collector thinks if the metaverse is inevitable we must do what we can to avoid making it a cyberpunkian hellscape owned by Meta. That’s why Punk6529 is one...
Punk6529 and Michael Casey at Consensus 2022 (Suzanne Cordeiro/Shutterstock/CoinDesk)