Fifteen business leaders in the world of cryptocurrencies have been included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for 2022.

This represents a 50% increase on the 10 crypto-related individuals listed in the 2021 edition, further underlining the growth enjoyed by the burgeoning sector.

Having started the year at $776bn (£582.6bn), the market capitalisation of the total cryptocurrency market has risen to $2.6trn, according to CoinMarketCap. 

The popular annual feature lists a total of 600 people aged 30 or under across 20 different categories. 

Cryptos and NFTs

Eleven cryptocurrency leaders are featured in the Finance category. They include:

• Roneil Rumburg, CEO of blockchain-based streaming service Audius, with 6 million listeners;
• Ophelia Snyder, the co-founder of 21Shares, a crypto ETP provider with more than $2.5bn in assets under management. Two months ago, she jointly filed with board member and ARK Investment head Cathie Wood for one of New York’s first bitcoin ETFs;
• Sam Trabucco and Caroline Ellison – both MIT graduates, they were made co-CEOs of Alameda Research, a quantitative trading firm providing liquidity into crypto markets, by founder Sam Bankman-Fried. A 2021 30 Under 30 alumnus, Bankman-Fried has focused on his FTX cryptocurrency exchange and seen his net worth rise above $22bn in the past year.  
• Alex Atallah, the co-founder of OpenSea, the world’s largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. Having formerly worked at Palantir Technologies, the 29-year old software engineer founded the company only four years ago with initial transactions per month amounting to just over $1m. In August of 2021, this monthly metric rose to a record high of $3.4bn. 

The Art category also featured someone who has seized the opportunity afforded by NFTs. Emily Yang, a graphic artist who founded PleasrDAO, a popular NFT investment club, and owns an impressive private collection.

Further reading

Crypto market update: Bitcoin below $57,000 at 4-day low

Cryptocurrency executives to speak before Congress