Anyone thinking that cryptocurrencies are still a far-fetched concept is probably living in Mars, as the technology continues to make waves in the financial industry and beyond.
Improving on last year’s number (two), four people working in the crypto space has made the list of Fortune 40 under 40 according to a report on Finance Magnates. The list represents who the magazine’s editors consider being the most powerful and/or influential and brings together people from several industries such as finance, music, politics, fashion, business, and sport.
Brian Armstrong, the founder of leading crypto exchange Coinbase Pro, unsurprisingly makes the cut at number 20 with his exchange currently trading over $52 million in the last 24 hours according to data from coinmarketcap.
Though operating in a largely unregulated market, Coinbase profits have grown through the years and just in the past week, the company set up a political action committee with the purpose of making money by promoting a political aim.
Sitting just a number apart from Brian Armstrong is Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, aged 31 and 33 respectively. The duo runs Robinhood, a company that offers mobile phone-based facilities for trading financial assets. Trading on the platform is said to be free while the company regains its investment plus profits by referring traders to other platforms which pay for the service.
Aside from allowing trading on a variety of cryptocurrency assets, the business had in the first quarter expanded its reach to up to eight Us states and is valued at over $5.6 billion.
Further back on the list of the Fortune 40 under 40 in number 24 is Ethereum blockchain founder, Vitalik Buterin. Fresh from an inclusion in Bloomberg’s list of most influential people, Buterin Ethereum token is now worth over $47 billion dollars. The Ethereum blockchain allows the development of smart contracts and powers a huge fraction of the virtual currency markets.
Crypto On The Fortune Rise
While a number of people around the world remain ignorant of digital currencies like bitcoin or its parent technology, the blockchain, the industry is one of the most promising in the tech space.
Brian Armstrong and Vitalik Buterin were the only folks from the crypto world who made the 2017 Fortune 40 under 40 list. The addition of two more crypto business owners to the illustrious list this year, will only increase public trust in the burgeoning industry and likely attract a flock of new investors.
Will more crypto industry specialist dominate the list in the coming years?
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