CoinDesk began introducing its annual Most Influential People list this week, recognizing the individuals and groups we believe have had the greatest impact on the crypto industry over the past 11 months. US President Donald Trump led the way as the first person recognized by CoinDesk, alongside others who have driven crypto legislation.
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The story
US President Donald Trump has arguably had the biggest impact on the crypto industry and the discourse surrounding it this year. He has signed executive orders, lobbied Congress to pass legislation and generated billions of dollars in paper profits through affiliated crypto businesses since taking office again earlier this year.
Why it matters
CoinDesk’s Most Influential is, by design, a look back at the past year, noting those who most shaped the industry. And this year, policymakers – especially American policymakers – have played a very important role.
Break it down
Last Monday, Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, said the industry would control the narrative around crypto if it could speak with a unified voice. “The public narrative is important, and we’re going to lead it,” she said. This goal is logical; The industry has spent years arguing that public narratives around crypto – that it is primarily a useful tool for money laundering and other criminal activity, that markets are volatile, and that crypto continues to lack legitimate use cases – are incorrect. Trump and his family’s involvement in crypto demonstrates another new narrative the industry has had to confront: that it is a useful tool for the most powerful man in the world to profit from.
Learn more and some of our other picks for this year’s Most Influential by clicking the links below, and keep an eye out for the rest of the list to be released next week.
Donald Trump
Don Jr., Eric and Barron Trump
French Hill
Bill Hagerty
Bo Hines
Paolo Ardoino
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
David Sacks
Brandon and Howard Lutnick
Ross Ulbricht
Shayne Coplan
The Lazare group
As of press time, it remains unclear exactly when we might see the Senate hold a markup hearing on market structure legislation. As a reminder, there will probably be two: one from the Senate Banking Committee and another from the Senate Agriculture Committee, for their respective versions of the bill.
Democrats listed their priorities in a document released earlier this week; Many points in that document resembled elements of the framework that Democrats previously shared in September, although this week’s document indicates that negotiating Democrats had agreed to parts of the existing discussion draft.
Some of the sticking points include provisions dealing with financial stability, market integrity and ethics – implicitly pointing to the crypto interests of President Donald Trump and his family. It is unclear whether this last point in particular could derail the negotiations. Earlier in the week, Sen. Cynthia Lummis said she had negotiated with the White House and that this particular item had been controversial.
Still, time is running out on the Congressional calendar for real progress to be made in 2025. A firm hearing has not yet been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, although Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott’s office noted that he has met with the CEOs of Bank of America, Citi and Wells Fargo.
“We are making real progress toward passing digital asset market structure legislation that will help solidify America’s role as the crypto capital of the world. For months, my colleagues and I on the Senate Banking Committee have received valuable feedback from the banking and crypto industries. I welcome the opportunity to have constructive conversations about increasing financial inclusion for more Americans while protecting investors and ensuring that the United States remain at the forefront of financial innovation,” Scott said in a statement Thursday.
This week
- As of press time, there is still no confirmation that the Senate Banking or Agriculture committees will hold markup hearings on their respective proposed crypto market structure legislation, although banking is rumored to hold a hearing of some sort this coming Wednesday or Thursday. As a reminder, a markup hearing is a crucial step before bills can advance in Congress.
- The Senate also plans to vote on a bloc of 97 Donald Trump nominees to confirm them to various positions, including CFTC presidential nominee Mike Selig and FDIC presidential nominee Travis Hill, over the next week.
If you have any ideas or questions about what I should discuss next week or any other comments you would like to share, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
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See you next week!
