What would the blockchain world be without pioneers and important figures! In this article, we will briefly introduce you to some of the most important names and their contributions to the cryptocurrency scene.
Roger Ver
Roger Ver was born on January 27, 1979 and of Japanese-American descent. One of the early investors in Bitcoin (BTC). Because of his involvement in promoting the cryptocurrencies, he is also known as the “Bitcoin Jesus”. At the same time, he was the founder of startups whose products and services could be paid for in Bitcoin. He is the person who first called Bitcoin “the most important invention in world history since the Internet.” Creator of the integration of payments into Bitcoin with MemoryDealers.com. Investor in projects such as Kraken and Ripple (XRP), as well as bitcoinstore.com. After criticizing the speculative nature of Bitcoin, he has now decided to delve into the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) project.
Andreas Antonopoulos
Andreas Antonopoulos is a British citizen of Greek descent born in 1972. He has been an enthusiast of Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology since 2011. A man on a mission to bring financially excluded people into the blockchain world. Repeated guest of financial committees of many countries in the world. Member of the Supervisory Committee for the CME Bitcoin Reference Rate. Author, speaker and author of such works as: “Mastering Bitcoin”, “Internet of Money – Volume One”, “Internet of Money – Volume Two” and “Mastering Ethereum”.
Hal Finney
Born May 4, 1956. American programmer who became famous for his role as the recipient of the first transaction in Bitcoin (BTC). This event took place on January 12, 2009. Author of the first tweet about Bitcoin. Considered by many to be the creator of Bitcoin – Satoshi Nakamoto. Unfortunately, Finney fought amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) for five years. As a result, he passed away on August 28, 2014. Hal Finney, along with his wife, decided to have their bodies frozen shortly after their deaths.
Max Keiser
Born January 23, 1960. American journalist and critic of financial markets. Host of the original program “Keiser Report”. Initially a stockbroker, today an opponent of the global financial system and a strong supporter of Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology. Creator of The Hollywood Stock Exchange and Virtual Insurance. Keiser is also author of The Hollywood Dollar – the first redeemable virtual currency.
Gavin Andresen
Born 1966. American programmer and founder of the Bitcoin Foundation. Initially involved in developing products for the Bitcoin blockchain. Named the leading developer of a reference software implementation by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2010. Creator of the escrow service that closed in 2011. Andresen is also a person who has expressed particular support for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Vitalik Buterin
Born on January 31, 1994, a Canadian of Russian descent. An accomplished programmer and creator of a blockchain platform called Ethereum, with the second largest cryptocurrency Ether (ETH). Author of many publications on Bitcoin and blockchain technology. By creating the Ethereum ecosystem, Vitalik has contributed to the development of many crypto projects. Thanks to him, today we are dealing with DeFi, for example. Smart contracts are based on Ethereum. Ether, in turn, thanks to the foundations of its development, is considered the king of altcoins among investors.
Erik Voorhees
CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Shapeshift. Co-founder of the gambling site SatoshiDICE and a platform called FeedZeBirds. A big fan of cryptocurrencies. Voorhees became famous in 2013 by selling SatoshiDICE to an unknown buyer for 126,315 BTC ($11.5 million at the time). It was the company’s first major acquisition in the blockchain space. He is also the founder of Coinapult, a company that enables Bitcoin transfers via text message. When he founded Shapeshift, he did not initially offer cryptocurrency exchanges for FIAT currencies, which made his exchange unique.
