Crypto Santa’s Nice List 2022

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The cryptocurrency industry saw the end of a bull run and the start of a brutal bear market this year, and some companies struggled while others prospered. Two major collapses, that of Terra and FTX, had a significant impact on the price action of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and sent shockwaves through the industry.

While some major figures made decisions or statements that put them on the villain list, others remained focused on their respective missions and continued to bring hope to the industry. Crypto Santa is happy with these leaders. (Click here for this year’s list of rascals.)

Vitalik Buterin

As co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin played a vital role in the development of the blockchain. Ethereums’ move from the energy-intensive proof-of-work blockchain to proof-of-stake had been planned for years, and many wondered if it would work at all. But Buterin and the Ethereum development team successfully merged in early September.

Despite all the bear market chaos, Buterin has continued to be a strong voice of reason in the crypto industry. When FTX collapsed, Buterin criticized those who wanted to abandon all of the values ​​that Sam Bankman-Fried stood for (Bankman-Fried was known for living below his means and being a vegan, among other things). While acknowledging Bankman-Frieds’ manipulation of the concept of effective altruism, Buterin urged Crypto Twitter to stay level-headed and not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Buterin also criticized traders speculating in governance tokens, arguing that manipulating the price and ownership of governance tokens was pathological and against the ethics of such tokens. And Buterins isn’t afraid to criticize Bitcoiners, he pointed out that many ignored El Salvador’s undemocratic government because they were blindsided by the promise of Bitcoin’s mass adoption.

Jack Dorsey

Twitter founder and longtime Bitcoiner Jack Dorsey has largely stayed on the sidelines this year, but he has continued to advocate for the decentralization of social media and privacy. As CEO of Block, Dorsey this year revealed plans for a tongue-in-cheek Web5, which aims to offer self-curated data and take an entirely different approach to the global web. Dorsey remains a critic of Web3, but his consistent stance seems to stem from genuine concern for the future of technology.

Edward Snowden

Although Edward Snowden may be a controversial figure, he continued to champion individual privacy rights. This year it emerged that Snowden was involved in the creation of the privacy-focused ZCash cryptocurrency.

In an interview with Decrypt, Snowden also took a strong stance against US sanctions imposed on Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash, calling the move deeply authoritarian. He also raised concerns about the amount of user identity data exchanges like Coinbase required to use their services, and remained a strong supporter of cryptocurrency when used to promote privacy and security. freedom of exchange for users.

Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano

Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano, two of the four founders of Bored Ape Yacht Club and Yuga Labs, have had quite the year. NFT sales for their upcoming metaverse game Otherside hit a shocking $561 million in 24 hours, causing the Ethereum network to crawl. Just two months later, they allowed selected users to explore an early version of their game on a first trip. They held a successful and star-studded Apefest concert for Ape NFT holders and launched a DAO and altcoin called Apecoin for their community. Aronow and Solano also began donating CryptoPunks NFTs to art museums in an effort to teach the public about Web3 and cement the status of NFTs as digital works of art.

Aronow and Solano have continued to work on their vision despite a barrage of half-baked Nazi conspiracy theories and an SEC investigation this year. No matter what you think of these two co-founders, they have undoubtedly stood their ground in their community and are working at a breakneck pace to make their dreams a reality.

Ryan Wyatt

In January, Ryan Wyatt left his position as Head of Games at YouTube to become the CEO of Polygon Studios, a company focused on bringing Web3 projects to the Ethereum sidechain. In less than a year, Polygon has seen a huge uptick in mainstream adoption of brands like Starbucks, Reddit, and Instagram.

Wyatt also remained charismatic and professional on social media, offering to help move projects from the Terra blockchain to Polygon when the Terra ecosystem collapsed in May this year. As we enter 2023, Wyatt is likely to remain a key player in the Web3 gaming space and a voice of reason for gamers who still struggle to understand NFTs.

justin blue

DJ and electronic music producer Justin 3LAU Blau can now add CEO, co-founder and entrepreneur to his track list. Since its NFT Royal music rights marketplace raised funds in 2021, the Royal team has been busy removing major releases from big-name artists and growing its NFT marketplace. In November, the predicted market went live despite the ongoing bear market, a move that shows Royals’ commitment to realizing its vision for Web3 music.

Blau also became a key advocate for Web3, integrating and inspiring musicians like his friends Steve Aoki and Dillon Francis. What future for Royal? In an interview, Blau told Decrypt that Royals is likely to release a mobile app and that the startup will do its best to circumvent Apple’s controversial 30% up-front fee to keep NFTs affordable for fans and fans. profitable for artists.

Changpeng CZ Zhao

In a rare feat, Binance CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao made both our Naughty and Nice lists this year, mainly because the executive was quick to share his hot views on Crypto Twitter.

You can see his “recent revelations” tweet that caused the sale of FTT that knocked FTX down as more damaging than helpful to the industry, but the other take on this is that he wisely called FTXs Sam Bankman-Fried long before FTX collapsed (including saying on our gm podcast that SBF’s attempts to bail out struggling companies were deals he wouldn’t have made).

CZ also remained calm and collected throughout the bear market, repeatedly saying that bear markets are healthy for crypto in the long run and filter out bad actors in the industry. In CZ’s opinion, only the good will survive.

Binance has expanded into Europe this year, increasing the overall chance of mass crypto adoption. And a recent independent audit verified that Binances Bitcoin reserves are more than sufficient, meaning the exchange is likely in good financial health.

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