So everyone is doing a top names of crypto list sort of thing. Having been around the block (pun intended), I think my list is better. There's a broad range of ideologies and specialties in my list. Half the people are warring with the other half and trolls will try to spread FUD on all of them but my belief is you have got to hear all the opinions to form your own. I'm definitely missing some amazing names but putting together this list was long enough to give me carpal tunnel syndrome, so feel free to add your thoughts and additions in the comments!
@aantonop - I recommend anyone in the crypto space, especially those new to it, follow Andreas Antonopolous. He has boundless enthusiasm for bitcoin and infinite patience as an educator in the space - I've witnessed him explain for the millionth time to yet another newbie (going all the way back to 2013) all the basics of just exactly what is bitcoin. I support him via his patreon and I highly recommend it as he hosts Q&As just for members, depending on your level of support.
Jameson Lopp is another great educator. His twitter bio gives a link to his site where you'll find an amazing list of resources: here it is for your convenience!
Vitalik Buterin needs no introduction. His twitter feed is priceless. Max and I met him when he was, I believe, a teenager. He was working for Bitcoin Magazine.
Adella Toulon - Adella is a lawyer and OG cypherpunk. She's been involved in the space since day one. She's not a very prolific tweeter, but she's a name worth knowing and when she does tweet, you'll want to make sure to see it.
Charlie Lee is the founder of litecoin. He recently sold off his entire hodlings of his own baby and some say that's a bad sign, others say it's a great sign. Only the markets will decide. His twitter stream is filled with interesting insight.
Max Keiser invented the virtual specialist technology and had the first convertible digital currency, the Hollywood dollar. He's a prolific tweeter of bitcoin gifs. He's the founder of Heisenberg Capital and the love of my life which is why I've tried to play fair to the others on this list and tuck him away in the middle of the list. :D
Jon Matonis - Jon Matonis is actually the reason we are even involved in bitcoin. In early 2011, he sent me an email out of the blue to ask me if I had heard about this new thing called 'bitcoin' and that he'd like to appear on Keiser Report to discuss it. The rest is history. He is, of course, a key player in one civil war raging in the community relating to blocksize.
Amir Taaki - If Jon Matonis first got us involved, it was Amir Taaki who not only invited us speak at the first ever bitcoin conference (in Prague in 2011), he helped us understand the mind-blowing divine possibilities of bitcoin.
Adam Back - is an original cypherpunk and if you follow Lopp's excellent piece on their role in the development of bitcoin; you will understand the significance of Dr Back. Again, as founder and CEO of Blockstream, he is in the middle of one of the myriad civil wars raging in the bitcoin space; but he's OG so go follow and listen and then make your own decision.
Saifedean Ammous is an Austrian economist that Max and I met in Beirut 7 or 8 years ago. He was a gold bug, now he's a bitcoin fanatic. He's written a new book about it. Check him out.
Elizabeth Stark - co-founder of Lightning Labs. You'll be hearing a lot about her and her work in 2018.
Jim Rickards - Jim is a frequent guest of Keiser Report. He
hatesis no fan of bitcoin and it's important, imo, to listen to such voices. He is a big believer in gold, rather than bitcoin, as a means of storing wealth and maintaining sovereignty. His background is as a lawyer, including as chief counsel for Long Term Capital Management, and managed that bankruptcy which almost took down the world's entire financial system. And, yes, he also works in intelligence. He engages with all (as long as they are polite).Crystal Rose - CEO and co-founder of Sensay. She's seriously smart and an amazing presence. She's one of the women of AI which is really moving deep and far into the blockchain space. Sensay recently had a successful ICO.
Richard Heart is an entrepreneur turned bitcoin maximalist. He posts lots of interesting content on his Twitter feed and produces some really good interviews all about crypto. Actually really only about bitcoin, he hates shitcoins.
Perianne Boring - Perianne is the founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce and was an early advocate for bitcoin and blockchain. She tweets often and she speaks often at conferences all across the world. She's a tireless fighter and lobbyist for blockchain.
@parabolictrav - if trading is your thing, this is the guy to follow. He tweets interesting bitcoin related content all day long. Great charts, great content.
Jaromil was mining bitcoin on his laptop in 2009, or rather, Amir Taaki was mining bitcoin on Jaromil's laptop. Jaromil is a gifted speaker on the entire bitcoin, altcoin and blockchain topic because he's a top grade open source developer and a man of great integrity.
Charles Hoskinson - a real live cryptographer on the list. He was part of the ethereum launch team and is now involved in Cardano. Another smart guy, lots of interesting info.
Pierre Rochard - a bitcoin maximalist with a great Twitter feed.
Trace Mayer is an early investor, we've known him forever. He's such a great speaker on the topic and is a super generous guy, like crazy generous.
Roger Ver is a shit stirrer of the first order. Everyone hates him now but that's probably all the more reason to follow him. He's a very early bitcoin investor and has used his vast bitcoin fortune to help people like Ross Ulbricht.
DashForceNews - the Dash community is quite amazing. I love their treasury model - it's the first DAO and it works.
@fluffypony is crypto's top troll. He's with Monero. Lots of great content in his feed. He's been on Keiser Report and is an awesome guest.
Charlie Shrem is bitcoin's first felon. He did time and now he's back as the elder statesman of the space. Max and I have known him since forever as he's an OG in the space. I married him and his wife Courtney this year in the middle of Hurricane Irma. It was wild.
Bruce Fenton used to dress like a banker when we first met him at bitcoin conferences back in 2014 or so. Now he's a wild man of crypto knowledge. Like some sort of yoda meets Abby Hoffman singing Janis Joplin. A clear warning to all those who crosses over into bitcoin? Or deep knowledge from the peak of enlightenment?
Roy Sebag & Josh Crumb founded BitGold which is now Goldmoney.com. They tweet often about bitcoin and are great thinkers and articulators on concepts relating to crypto and money.
BnkToTheFuture is Simon Dixon's hangout. He was another speaker at that first ever bitcoin conference in Prague. His platform is evolving into an interesting space for all things crypto financing related. The twitter feed provides lots of interesting content with a broad overview on regulatory and other matters.
BitfuryGeorge - OG miner. His opinion is a great resource. I think Bitfury will be doing some interesting and big things in 2018.
Peter Todd used to do
DarkcoinDarkwallet. Now he's a cryptography consultant. A real must follow on Twitter.Jeff Berwick emailed to remind me that I forgot to put him on the list. Busted. He's right. He was definitely the first of the libertarian crew who took to bitcoin. Most others in the libertarian/anarcho-capitalist community took a surprisingly long time to give up their gold buggery (as if the two were mutually exclusive). Jeff saw the glow of freedom in bitcoin straight away and we interviewed him often on the topic on Keiser Report. Glad to see that Jeff has added a Cryptopulco tent to his wildly successful annual Anarchpulco conference in Acapulco, Mexico. You should really all check it out - the guest line up looks amazing and, despite what you hear from the US State Dept, Acapulco is a stunning place. As is all of Mexico.
Arry Yu shared a panel with me at the Nexus Earth conference in Aspen this summer. She's the COO of Storm which just had a wildly successful ICO.