Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

Special Note: This ranking is based on subjective assessments of publicly available information, aimed at fun discussions and does not constitute investment advice or industry certification. Please refer to it rationally and enjoy reading. If you have any questions or leads, feel free to contact us, and we will continue to update.

Since May 22, 2010, when Laszlo purchased two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins, Bitcoin has evolved from a programming enthusiast's experiment into a "major asset" valued by global institutions, sovereign funds, and even nations. Behind this transformation is a group of key individuals and institutions driving its growth—some have been preaching for over a decade, while others have introduced hundreds of billions in capital into BTC.

As Pizza Day approaches, we review the key drivers behind Bitcoin's rise over the past 16 years. This list evaluates their actual contributions to Bitcoin's mainstream acceptance from multiple core dimensions and visually presents each contributor's profound impact through a "star rating."

Judging dimensions include:

• Technical and Ideological Contribution: Whether they have promoted technological advancements or the development of Bitcoin's ideology.
• Market Influence: Whether they have significantly impacted Bitcoin's price or adoption through investments, products, or policies.
• Community and Education: Whether they have raised awareness of Bitcoin through media, speeches, or community activities.
• Sustainability and Reputation: Whether they have consistently promoted Bitcoin over the long term and maintained a positive image in the industry.

Let’s take a look back at who has pushed Bitcoin from a "pizza exchange voucher" to the pinnacle of global assets today.

Protocol Blacksmith

Origin Coordinates: Satoshi Nakamoto

• Identity: Founder of Bitcoin
• Contribution Dimensions: White paper publication, network launch, coding development
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭ (Hall of Fame)

Undoubtedly the "creator," the seed sower of technology and ideology, directly entering the "Hall of Fame." Satoshi Nakamoto holds approximately 1.1 million bitcoins, accounting for about 5% of the total supply, with their "sleeping" assets providing a symbol of stability to the market. He spread the idea of Bitcoin through cryptographic mailing lists in its early days and retreated after 2010.

Casey Rodarmor (Inventor of the Ordinals Protocol)

• Representative Event: Proposed the Ordinals protocol in 2023, sparking a Bitcoin NFT craze
• Impact Dimension: Opened the Pandora's box of Bitcoin's "non-monetary use," activating developers and new narratives
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

In early 2023, Casey Rodarmor released the Ordinals protocol, allowing users to inscribe text, images, and other data on the Bitcoin blockchain, leading to the birth of new asset standards like BRC-20 and revitalizing the Bitcoin ecosystem. Despite causing significant controversy within the Bitcoin community, with some core developers believing it "pollutes" block space, it is undeniable that Ordinals broke Bitcoin's singular narrative, attracting considerable attention from developers, artists, and capital.

Luke Dashjr (Early BTC Core Developer)

• Representative Event: Over a decade of continuous participation in Bitcoin Core code maintenance and upgrades
• Impact Dimension: One of the most experienced core developers, guarding the Bitcoin protocol as a "gatekeeper"
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Luke Dashjr is one of the earliest BTC core developers and remains active. He has contributed to the Bitcoin core code since 2011, responsible for adding support for BIP 22 and 23 protocols, and maintains part of the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals on GitHub. He released BFG Miner in 2014, which has become one of the most widely used implementations for Bitcoin mining.

Adam Back (Co-founder & CEO of Blockstream)

• Representative Event: Early cryptographer, inventor of Hashcash; later promoted infrastructure development for Bitcoin sidechains and the Lightning Network
• Impact Dimension: Dual preaching of ideology and technology
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Adam Back is one of the few individuals mentioned in Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper. His invention of Hashcash is used in Bitcoin's proof-of-work mechanism, becoming one of the technical sources of BTC's consensus mechanism, and at Blockstream, he has promoted the development of key scaling and privacy tools like the Liquid sidechain and the Lightning Network.

Roger Ver (Founder of Bitcoin.com)

• Representative Event: Early investor in blockchain startups; later led the push for the BCH fork
• Impact Dimension: An early evangelist for Bitcoin, also the most controversial representative of the "splitters"
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Roger Ver, known as "Bitcoin Jesus," was one of the most radical early evangelists and investors in Bitcoin, making significant contributions to its global adoption and the dissemination of its technological ideology. He supported the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fork in 2017, opposing Bitcoin Core's small block strategy, which led to community division and damaged his reputation.

Institutional Evangelists & Wall Street Guides

Michael Saylor (Co-founder of Strategy)

• Representative Event: Invested corporate assets in Bitcoin, holding over 150,000 bitcoins
• Impact Dimension: Pioneer of asset allocation paradigms for public companies, promoting BTC as "corporate treasury"
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Since 2020, Michael Saylor has led Strategy to accumulate approximately 560,000 bitcoins (about 2.6% of the total supply), sparking a wave of corporate investment, and his Bitcoin strategy has caused the company's stock price to soar. Through interviews, Twitter (X), and crypto event summits, Saylor has become a global evangelist for Bitcoin, attracting institutional investors.

Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock)

• Representative Event: Promoted the application for a Bitcoin spot ETF, which was successfully approved
• Impact Dimension: Helped BTC enter the "compliance threshold" for institutional investment, legitimizing it in the context of global asset allocation
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Fink once called Bitcoin a "money laundering tool" in 2017, but by 2023, he made a sharp turn to embrace Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) was approved in 2024, becoming the fastest-growing ETF in history, managing over $63.7 billion in assets, attracting traditional investors, and pushing Bitcoin's price above $100,000.

Barry Silbert (Founder of DCG)

• Representative Event: Created the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), guiding institutional funds into the market early
• Impact Dimension: Built a "trust channel" for Bitcoin, becoming an important transition before ETFs
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Barry Silbert's Grayscale was once the most important channel for promoting institutional compliance in holding Bitcoin. In 2013, he launched the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), providing a way for institutions and retail investors to invest without directly holding Bitcoin, transitioning to an ETF by 2024, managing nearly $20 billion in assets.

Jack Dorsey (Founder of Block, Former CEO of Twitter)

• Representative Event: Enabled Bitcoin buying and selling through Cash App in 2018, promoted Block (formerly Square) to acquire and hold Bitcoin long-term, initiated the Btrust fund
• Impact Dimension: A BTC promoter in Silicon Valley and the internet sphere
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Jack Dorsey is a staunch believer in Bitcoin's ideology, and Cash App under Block has become an important entry point for millions of users to access BTC. He actively develops open-source self-custody wallets and mining hardware, promoting the construction of decentralized Bitcoin infrastructure. The Btrust fund he initiated supports developers globally, initially focusing on teams in Africa and India.

Cathie Wood (Founder of ARK Invest)

• Representative Event: Continuously applied for Bitcoin ETFs, publicly supporting Bitcoin's long-term value
• Impact Dimension: Encouraged a new generation of growth investors (especially tech stock investors) to pay attention to BTC
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

ARK Invest's ARKW ETF has invested in Bitcoin-related companies (such as Grayscale, Coinbase) since 2018. In 2021, it began applying for a Bitcoin spot ETF, which was approved in 2024, managing over $5 billion in assets.

Elon Musk (Founder of Tesla, X, SpaceX)

• Representative Event: In 2021, Tesla announced the purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and later announced it would accept Bitcoin payments (which were paused due to energy consumption issues).
• Impact Dimension: One of the most influential entrepreneurs globally, whose every move directly affects crypto market sentiment
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Musk plays the role of an "emotional driver" and "boundary amplifier" in Bitcoin's history. In 2021, Tesla's decision to purchase Bitcoin sparked a wave of institutional follow-up and pushed BTC prices to new highs. Additionally, his support for the meme coin DOGE helped bring meme culture to the core stage of crypto assets.

Paul Tudor Jones (Legendary Hedge Fund Manager)

• Representative Event: Publicly invested in Bitcoin in 2020, calling it "the best asset to hedge against inflation"
• Impact Dimension: Opened the cognitive floodgates for traditional Wall Street capital, marking one of the turning points for Bitcoin's institutionalization
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Paul Tudor Jones is a key driver of Bitcoin's institutionalization, accelerating its mainstream acceptance with his macro investment perspective and influence on Wall Street. His investment incentivized institutions like Bridgewater and JPMorgan to follow suit, attracting Wall Street capital inflow.

Policy Coordinate Adjuster

Nayib Bukele (President of El Salvador)

• Representative Event: Pushed El Salvador to become the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender
• Impact Dimension: Elevated Bitcoin from "asset" to "currency" status, opening a national-level adoption paradigm
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Nayib Bukele promoted the "Bitcoin Law" in June 2021, making El Salvador the first country to designate Bitcoin as legal tender, allowing it to be used for taxes, payments, and debt settlement. The government launched the Chivo wallet, planned to build a "Bitcoin City," and utilized geothermal energy from volcanoes to mine Bitcoin. This national-level practice, despite ongoing controversies, undoubtedly became a pivotal milestone in Bitcoin's history.

Donald Trump (President of the United States)

• Representative Event: Advocated for including Bitcoin in the national strategic reserves, promising to "make America the crypto capital"
• Impact Dimension: Strengthened Bitcoin's status through national executive power, opening a new era of "sovereign Bitcoin" narrative
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

During his 2024 campaign, Trump boldly promised to "make America the Bitcoin capital." In early 2025, shortly after taking office, he signed an executive order directing the Treasury to study the inclusion of Bitcoin in strategic reserves, accelerating a shift towards a more favorable regulatory environment. His policy stance not only reshaped the Bitcoin regulatory framework in the U.S. but also heated global policy discussions, prompting other countries to explore Bitcoin reserve plans.

Gary Gensler (Former SEC Chairman)

• Representative Event: Approved the first U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs during his tenure, ending a decade of rejections
• Impact Dimension: The "final gatekeeper" at the regulatory level
• Star Rating: ✭✭

Gary Gensler played a complex and controversial role in advancing Bitcoin policy. Between 2021 and 2023, he led lawsuits against exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, accusing them of unregistered securities trading, indirectly forcing Bitcoin-related companies to enhance compliance and promote industry standardization. In 2024, under market and political pressure, Gensler approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking a turning point in Bitcoin's mainstream acceptance.

Cynthia Lummis (Chair of the U.S. Senate Digital Assets Subcommittee)

• Representative Event: Proposed the "Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Act" and pushed for legislative reforms in cryptocurrency regulation
• Impact Dimension: A legislative supporter of Bitcoin, dedicated to establishing a clear policy framework to protect the crypto market
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Cynthia Lummis has been a leading figure in the U.S. policy circle, promoting the normalization of Bitcoin policy through legislation and regional experimentation. Wyoming has become a crypto-friendly state under her advocacy, and the state plans to issue the first state-level stablecoin in July.

Hester Peirce (SEC Commissioner)

• Representative Event: Advocated for a clearer regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market and supported the launch of Bitcoin ETFs
• Impact Dimension: A proponent of regulatory reform, advocating for a more lenient and flexible regulatory environment for the crypto market
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Hester Peirce, known as "Crypto Mom," has long supported the legalization of cryptocurrency assets within the SEC, pushing for the approval of innovative financial products like Bitcoin ETFs. Peirce's views hold significant influence in the industry, making her an important force in promoting the legalization of the crypto sector.

Julia Leung (CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission)

• Representative Event: Promoted the licensing system for virtual asset platforms in Hong Kong and strengthened cross-border regulatory cooperation
• Impact Dimension: Guided crypto regulatory policies in the Asia-Pacific region, balancing innovation and risk control
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Julia Leung has established Hong Kong's position as a global crypto hub with clear regulatory frameworks and forward-looking policies. She led the implementation of the licensing system for virtual asset trading platforms, approved the first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in Asia in April 2024, and plans to introduce a stablecoin regulatory framework.

Wu Jiezhuang (Legislative Council Member of Hong Kong)

• Representative Event: Proposed a HK$100 million fund to support the Web3 industry and advocated for a "Digital Pass" to allow mainland investors to trade Hong Kong-recognized digital assets
• Impact Dimension: Advocated for compliant innovation in the virtual asset field, promoting Hong Kong's crypto ecosystem
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Wu Jiezhuang is a key figure in promoting the development of the digital economy and virtual assets in Hong Kong. He is the chairman of the Legislative Council's Web3 and Virtual Asset Development Subcommittee and has proposed a HK$100 million fund to support the Web3 industry and advocated for a "Digital Pass" to allow mainland investors to trade Hong Kong-recognized digital assets.

Crypto OGs and Platform Promoters

Brian Armstrong (Co-founder of Coinbase)

• Representative Event: Founded Coinbase, establishing it as the largest compliant crypto trading platform in the U.S., successfully listed and included in the S&P 500 index
• Impact Dimension: Coinbase represents the regulatory compliance path in the U.S., providing an entry point for retail and institutional investors
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Brian Armstrong is a key figure in the crypto world’s move towards compliance and capital markets. In 2021, Coinbase went public, and recently, Coinbase stock was included in the S&P 500 index, marking an important milestone in connecting the industry with Wall Street. He also supports spot Bitcoin ETFs through Coinbase Prime and custody services for firms like BlackRock and Fidelity, solidifying Bitcoin's institutionalization process.

Jihan Wu (Founder of Bitmain and Matrixport)

• Representative Event: Founded Bitmain, Bitdeer, and Matrixport, leading the mining industry landscape
• Impact Dimension: Enhanced the security and hash power growth of the Bitcoin network by providing efficient mining equipment
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Jihan Wu is known for translating Satoshi Nakamoto's original Bitcoin white paper and is an important figure in the industrialization of Bitcoin. His company, Bitmain, once controlled over 70% of the global hash power and was one of the earliest capital promoters of Bitcoin. However, he insisted on a large block approach and supported the BCH fork, leading to community division. Internal strife at Bitmain resulted in his exit from management in 2021.

Li Lin (Founder of Huobi)

• Representative Event: Founded Huobi, promoting the early adoption of the crypto market in China
• Impact Dimension: Huobi was once one of the largest trading platforms globally, facilitating Bitcoin's adoption in Asia
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Li Lin played a significant role in promoting the early crypto market in China. In 2014, he shared the stage with NPC Standing Committee member Wu Xiaoling at the Sanya Financial International Forum, presenting on "The Development and Outlook of Cryptographic Digital Currency," promoting Bitcoin's financial potential. He was investigated in 2020 due to regulatory pressure and exited as a shareholder and manager of Huobi in 2022.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) (Founder of Binance)

• Representative Event: Founded Binance, rapidly developing it into the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally
• Impact Dimension: Provided diverse trading services, promoting the circulation and adoption of Bitcoin worldwide
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Changpeng Zhao is renowned for his significant contributions to the construction of global exchanges and the popularization of Bitcoin. He founded Binance in 2017, building a complete ecosystem including public chains, wallets, incubators, and stablecoins. Despite stepping down as CEO of Binance due to regulatory pressures, CZ continues to promote the adoption of Bitcoin and crypto assets, with his personal influence spanning retail, projects, and regulatory circles.

Star Xu (Founder of OKX)

• Representative Event: Founded OKX, providing diversified cryptocurrency trading services
• Impact Dimension: An innovator in the Asian crypto trading structure, promoting the development of contracts and derivatives
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Star Xu founded OKCoin (later developed into OKX) in 2013, which became one of the largest Bitcoin trading platforms globally in 2014. He has authored books such as "Blockchain Illustrated" and "Token Economy." In 2020, he faced restrictions due to an equity acquisition investigation and exited the board of OK Group in 2022.

Marty Bent (Podcast Host)

• Representative Event: Managing partner at Ten31, hosts the podcast "Tales from the Crypt," promoting the deep dissemination of Bitcoin ideology
• Impact Dimension: Spreads Bitcoin culture through podcasts, media, and educational content, having a profound impact on grassroots communities and developer ecosystems in the U.S.
• Star Rating: ✭✭

Marty Bent conveys Bitcoin's values through words and the microphone, serving as an important guardian of Bitcoin's spirit. He was the former head of Great American Mining, actively promoting the use of wasted energy for Bitcoin mining and advocating for the combination of energy reuse and decentralized network security.

Jimmy Song (Bitcoin Educator, Developer, and Entrepreneur)

• Representative Event: Delivered speeches globally and published several Bitcoin books
• Impact Dimension: A bridge figure for technical popularization and ideological dissemination, connecting developers and the public
• Star Rating: ✭✭

Jimmy Song was a contributor to Bitcoin Core and later focused on education and advocacy, publishing books such as "Programming Bitcoin" and "Thank God for Bitcoin," and has been promoting Bitcoin at global conferences for many years.

Andreas M. Antonopoulos (Bitcoin Educator, Author)

• Representative Event: Published classic works such as "Mastering Bitcoin" and "The Internet of Money," and conducted global tours to promote Bitcoin ideology
• Impact Dimension: A foundational figure in building public awareness of Bitcoin
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is one of the most influential educators in the Bitcoin community. He has written over 200 popular science articles on Bitcoin and has given dozens of lectures worldwide, promoting the idea that "Bitcoin is the cornerstone of decentralized finance," influencing global policy discussions.

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