It was an experiment in driving community engagement, and we’re leaving the door open to relaunching DESK or something similar in the future.
Stani Kulechov Defied Crypto Winter
With upgrades to the Aave lending/borrowing protocol and Lens, an open-source social media protocol, the Estonian native kept BUIDLing in a down-market.
Coldie: Pascal Gauthier Has ‘Strong Features’ in Personality and Facial Makeup
The artist made an NFT of the crypto hardware wallet executive for our Most Influential package.
Die With the Most Likes: Elizabeth Warren in the Style of ‘Relentless. Ground. Beef’
The artist made an NFT of the U.S. senator for our Most Influential package.
Logik: Tieshun ‘Pacman’ Roquerre ‘Knows His S–t’
The artist made an NFT of the Blur and Blast founder for our Most Influential package.
Michael Kutsche: Caroline Ellison Had Her Mind ‘Hijacked’
The artist made an NFT of the former Alameda Research executive for our Most Influential package.
EFDOT: Racer ‘Likes to Move Fast and Innovate’
The artist made an NFT of the Friend.tech co-founder for our Most Influential package.
Rebecca Rose: ‘What Goes on Inside That Brain’ of Jesse Pollak’s?
The artist made an NFT of the Base leader for our Most Influential package.
P1A: Refik Anadol Explores ‘Boundaries of Creativity’
The artist made an NFT of the digital artist for our Most Influential package.
La Vaun: Envisioning Brad Garlinghouse as ‘This Strategic Commander’
The artist made an NFT of the Ripple Labs CEO for our Most Influential package.
Shavonne Wong: Not Even Sam Altman ‘Is Exempt From Surveillance’
The artist made an NFT of the Worldcoin co-founder and OpenAI CEO for our Most Influential package.
Rhett: Casey Rodarmor ‘Wasn’t Just Another Elusive Figure’
The artist made an NFT of the Ordinals protocol creator for our Most Influential package.
Ian Allison’s Giant Sam Bankman-Fried Scoop Won Accolades in 2023
The CoinDesk reporter belongs in the journalism hall of fame since there’s little, if any, precedent for the waves his story on Alameda Research and FTX stirred up.
Julia Leung: Positioning Hong Kong as a Crypto Hub
A former journalist, Leung is the world’s most powerful female financial regulator in an increasingly important center for crypto.
Martin Köppelmann Is Fighting to Keep Crypto Tech on Track
In addition to building some of the biggest blockchain tools on Ethereum, Köppelmann is also ringing the alarm bell on how certain technology has caused the network to stray from its ideals.
Elizabeth Warren: D.C.’s Crypto Critic-in-Chief
The U.S. Senator from Massachusetts is skeptical of crypto. It’s a position she leaned into in 2023.
Barry Silbert Navigated Fallout From 2022’s Crypto Scandals
The former owner of CoinDesk faced a slew of lawsuits and complications in 2023, but, by year-end, his Digital Currency Group (DCG) had put some issues behind it.
Ron Faris at Nike Is Running With Web3
As many corporations shied away from blockchain-powered initiatives this year, the shoemaker has been quietly building a model for how brands can use a Web3 backend to win new audiences.
Caroline Pham: Supportive Regulation at the CFTC
The CFTC commissioner, in a year marked by an aggressive, sometimes arbitrary regulatory enforcement, stood out as an accommodator of innovation in the crypto sector.
Antonio Juliano: Uprooting a Successful Exchange to Explore the Cosmos
Juliano’s dYdX switched from Ethereum to Cosmos in one of the year’s biggest blockchain defections. The project has big plans for 2024.