There are many people and influences in the nascent, growing cryptocurrency industry. While there was a lot of influencers and personalities in the 2021 crypto industry, three individuals stood out as having the biggest impact 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. His influence in the cryptocurrency space is huge, even though the comments were made tongue-in cheek. Tesla (NASDAQ:), holds the number two most cryptocurrencies, at 38,300. Musk and others also flipped-flopped earlier this year over whether Tesla would accept Bitcoin to pay for Tesla’s e-vehicles.

Musk caused large price swings in 2021 with dozens of smallcryptic tweets pertaining to Bitcoin, Fluki Inu and. After Musk took social media action, all of the projects had double-digit increases in price. Musk’s posts regarding Bitcoin led to a decline in that currency, which had the unexpected consequence of slowing down much of the crypto industry.

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 El Salvador

The visionary President of El Salvador, announced in June that he had submitted to the Salvadorian Congress a provision to allow Bitcoin to be used as legal tender. It was a groundbreaking move, which was made law in the summer. The legislation went into 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.”

Also, he has bought more Bitcoin at a discount during cycles drops and increased their public funds. The remarkable leadership displayed by this politician inspired others to look into crypto, including in countries like Venezuela, Panama and Brazil. It also influenced the mayors of New York City and Miami.

In 2021, Nayib Bukele proved himself to be the most powerful politician in crypto.

MicroStrategy’s CEO, Michael Saylor

Michael Saylor leads the pack when it comes to Bitcoin corporate investors. In regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in mid-December, enterprise analytics company – Microstrategy (NASDAQ:) – 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.

Since last summer, when Saylor’s company invested in Bitcoin, he has been a vocal and passionate Bitcoin supporter. 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.

To The Flipside

• Honourable mentions go to Jack Dorsey (ex-CEO of Twitter (NYSE.)); Brian Armstrong (CEO Coinbase (NASDAQ.)); and Jerome Powell (Chief, Federal Reserve).

What are the reasons to care?

Influencers can have influence and sway. A recent study found that nearly 50% of small-business owners who accept cryptocurrency are doing so due to innovative companies like MicroStrategy, Tesla and others. A third of those who accept crypto are influenced by social media such as Elon Musk, with nearly three quarters accepting it. These crypto influencers exist.

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