The 5 most influential crypto market players in year when $2 trillion wiped out

Exactly one year ago, the combined market capitalization of all the cryptocurrencies out there peaked at an all-time high of $2.9 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Over the course of the last year, a market blood bath has taken place, wiping out nearly $2 trillion. Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
-1.91%,
the largest cryptocurrency, has plunged by some 70%, but has shown some impressive market resilience at the $20,000 range.

In this historic year for cryptocurrencies, five crypto players stand out for having the most influence over the current market state of crypto, landing on the MarketWatch 50 list of the most influential people in markets. Two of them, Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, and Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, were locked in a duel on Monday. Zhao said on Sunday that Binance would sell its remaining tokens of FTX’s FTT, with Bankman-Fried responding that “a competitor is trying to go after us with false rumors.” It continues to be an eventful year for crypto and here are the five crypto players who have had the most influence on the current state of digital currencies.

Sam Bankman-Fried

In three years, Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF as he is known, has come out of nowhere and become the closest thing crypto has to a central banker. He built the world’s second-largest centralized crypto exchange, FTX, and controls trading firm Alameda Research. In 2022, Bankman-Fried, 30, tried to prop up the digital currency market by making nearly $1 billion in commitments to crypto firms amid the crash. Anthony Scaramucci anointed him “the new John Pierpont Morgan” and Bankman-Fried later bought a stake in Scaramucci’s financial firm. He offered a $400 million credit facility bailout to crypto lending platform BlockFi and $485 million of credit support to crypto broker Voyager Digital, which ultimately filed for bankruptcy. FTX is buying Voyager’s assets. Bankman-Fried even took a 7.6% stake in Robinhood Markets. Much of FTX’s revenue is generated with leveraged offerings that are off limits in the U.S., but Bankman-Fried has been pushing for industry-friendly crypto regulations in the U.S. and worldwide. He hosted his own conference panel in April seated next to Bill Clinton and Tony Blair.

Changpeng Zhao

Changpeng Zhao controls the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, facilitating $70 billion of trading daily this year in more than 500 listed cryptocurrencies and leveraged products tied to them. Binance handles some two-thirds of the world’s cryptocurrency trading that takes place through a centralized exchange. In many ways, the cryptocurrency market is now shaped by the man crypto-enthusiasts refer to as CZ. A coder with experience in both market-making and high-frequency trading, CZ has moved from China to Japan and Dubai since founding Binance in 2017. The company has no official headquarters and has offered access to leveraged derivatives that are illegal in many countries. But this year CZ has pursued a regulatory strategy that saw Binance win regulatory approval in France. He also had Binance invest $500 million in Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

Alex Mashinsky

Alex Mashinsky built a crypto lender that claimed 1.7 million customers and a peak of $20 billion in assets by paying interest rates as high as 17% APY on crypto deposits and lending out digital assets to other companies. Celsius Network emerged together with several other lightly regulated cryptocurrency companies that offered traditional banking services. But starting in June Celsius and at least four other firms halted all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between accounts. Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July and the debacle put further pressure on cryptocurrency prices. As the situation at Celsius first became clear, Bitcoin plunged from $30,000 to $20,000 and the total market capitalization of digital currencies fell below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021. Mashinsky quit the CEO position in September, leaving behind a smoldering wreck.

Do Kwon

Born in South Korea and educated at Stanford University, Do Kwon cofounded Terraform Labs, which backed Terra, once among the most popular blockchains. Terra’s stablecoin TerraUSD (now TerraClassicUSD), was supposed to trade one to one against U.S. dollars, but in May it fell off its peg and later traded close to zero. Luna, another cryptocurrency that backed TerraUSD, also crashed. A combined market capitalization of almost $50 billion of the two coins were wiped out in a week. To defend TerraUSD’s peg, Luna Foundation Guard sold more than 80,000 bitcoin in its reserve, accelerating this year’s selloff to the largest cryptocurrency. Terra’s collapse was also a blow to several crypto companies and funds. Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, for example, lost more than $200 million from its investment in Luna and was unable to repay loans it took out from major crypto lenders, fueling an industry-wide credit crunch. Three Arrows has been ordered to be liquidated by a British Virgin Islands court. Kwon is under investigation in South Korea and Interpol has issued a “red notice” for his arrest.

Su Zhu

The cofounder and former CEO of Three Arrows Capital, Su Zhu was at the center of this year’s credit crunch in crypto and helped push digital currency prices down. His highly leveraged Singapore-based hedge fund managed some $10 billion at its peak and bet big on digital currencies like Luna that Zhu pushed on social media. When Luna and other coins crashed, Three Arrows failed to meet margin calls and collapsed into bankruptcy in June. Voyager Digital was one crypto platform that lent some $650 million to Three Arrows and itself filed for bankruptcy protection as a result. Digital Currency Group’s Genesis crypto brokerage was owed $1.2 billion by Three Arrows when it failed. Zhu has been cagey about his whereabouts lately, but friends say he’s laying low in Dubai.