The nascent and growing crypto industry has many personalities and influencers. While many of those individuals had their moments in 2021, there are three people in particular who demonstrated the greatest impact on the crypto market this year.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla/SpaceX/SpaceLink
Earlier this month the world’s richest individual, Elon Musk, jokingly said that he was considering stepping down as Tesla’s CEO to become a full-time influencer. While the comment was tongue-in-cheek, his power as an influencer within the crypto space is no joke. The Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) organization holds the second largest number of Bitcoin, which is reportedly 38,300 coins. Earlier this year Musk also flip flopped back-and-forth as to whether Tesla would accept Bitcoin as payment for Tesla e-vehicles.
Needless to say, throughout 2021, Musk caused big price swings by issuing dozens of small cryptic tweets regarding Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Fluki Inu specifically. Each of those projects saw double-digit price action following social media action by Musk. When his posts about Bitcoin drove that crypto down, it also had the unintended consequence of dragging down most of the crypto sector.
It’s safe to say that no other individual has that same level of social media influence within the cryptocurrency market as Elon Musk.
Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador
In June of this year, the visionary president of the country El Salvador announced a provision he submitted to the Salvadorian Congress to accept Bitcoin as legal tender in his country. This was an unprecedented move that was passed into law this summer and took effect in September. Since then, Bukele has announced that profits from Bitcoin investments have been enough to build new schools, animal hospitals, and partially-fund a new Volcano-powered “Bitcoin City.”
He has also systematically bought and added more discounted Bitcoin during cycle drops adding significantly to their public coffers. This remarkable leadership by a politician has inspired other politicians to consider the virtues of crypto in such countries as Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Paraguay as well as influenced mayors of U.S. cities of Miami and New York City.
Nayib Bukele has proven himself in 2021 to be the most influential politician when it comes to crypto.
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy
When it comes to corporate investors of Bitcoin, Michael Saylor is in a class by himself. In regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in mid-December, enterprise analytics company – Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) – announced that it purchased 1,434 more Bitcoin for $57,477 with a total price tag of $82.4 million.
In a follow-up tweet to his 1.9 million followers, Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor, stated that the company’s total holdings of Bitcoin now exceed 122,478 coins. That is more than three times the number of Bitcoin held by the next closest corporate investor – Tesla.
Saylor has been an ardent and vocal Bitcoin supporter since last summer when his company first invested in Bitcoin. In two separate tweets following the government announcement of a 6.8% inflation increase on Dec. 10 for this November compared to last November – marking the largest inflationary increase in 40 years – Saylor wrote, “Inflation is the problem and Bitcoin is the solution.”
Michael Saylor has demonstrated this year that he is the most influential corporate investor in crypto – specifically Bitcoin.
On The Flipside
- Honorable mentions for crypto influencers in 2021 go to Jack Dorsey, former Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) CEO; Brian Armstrong, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO; Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve, Chairman.
Why You Should Care?
Influencers have sway and impact. Recent research found that 50% of small businesses owners who accept crypto do so because of innovative companies such as MicroStrategy and Tesla. While nearly 33% accept crypto due to social media influencers such as Elon Musk. Crypto influencers are real.
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