The 10 Most Influential People in Bitcoin This Year

It’s safe to say that 2014 was an interesting year for bitcoin.
As core development on the bitcoin protocol continued to strengthen the technological foundation of the digital currency, members of the bitcoin community had a significant impact on the ‘front-end’ of the budding industry this year too.
With bitcoin and blockchain technology approaching – but yet to reach – mainstream adoption in society, it’s not enough that Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention stands on its own technological prowess.
The bitcoin community needs influencers to spread awareness, build confidence and set precedents for the digital currency industry to reach its full potential. Sometimes these influencers dedicate their time, money and expertise to make a positive impact on the industry, and other times people have an impact on bitcoin for all the wrong reasons.
Whatever their intentions, CoinDesk has ranked the 10 most influential people in bitcoin in 2014 according to a number of factors.
We considered the year’s biggest stories, contributions to the community and the companies working with digital currencies, and the answers of our reader poll – all within the broader context of the bitcoin industry and its growth in 2014.
Here are CoinDesk’s top 10 most influential people in bitcoin this year:

This post was published at Coin Desk on December 24, 2014.