CoinDesk Most Influential 2025

ZachXBT still holds the crown as the crypto world’s pseudonymous Sherlock Holmes.

Chainlink’s co-founder spent 2025 turning oracles, cross-chain messaging and CRE into building blocks for tokenized funds and on-chain finance.

The Telegram CEO may stand as the most pivotal figure in the bona fide mass adoption of cryptocurrency.

A longtime fixture on Wall Street, Tom Lee’s pivot to crypto comes as the traditional finance industry is increasingly embracing...

Zhao’s exit from Binance did little to dim his prominence.

Despite facing a year of tough conditions for bitcoin treasury companies, Michael Saylor’s Strategy developed new ways to make money...

Bailey’s Strategy-inspired bitcoin treasury company, KindlyMD, exemplified the struggles of many of its peers this year.

Base, the layer-2 network incubated by Coinbase, exploded in popularity this year.

Throughout crypto’s ups and downs, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has remained unflaggingly bullish on the industry’s future.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has re-emerged in recent years as one of the industry’s most consistently influential macro thinkers.