From Two Pizzas to Major Asset Classes: A Review of 27 Key Players in Bitcoin's Rise Over 16 Years

Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

Special Note: This ranking is based on subjective assessments of publicly available information, aimed at fun discussions and does not constitute investment advice or industry certification. Please refer to it rationally and enjoy reading. If you have any questions or leads, feel free to contact us, and we will continue to update.

Since May 22, 2010, when Laszlo purchased two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins, Bitcoin has transformed from an experimental project for programming enthusiasts into a "major asset" valued by global institutions, sovereign funds, and even nations. Behind this growth is a group of key individuals and institutions driving the momentum—some have been preaching for over a decade, while others have introduced hundreds of billions in capital into BTC.

As Pizza Day approaches, we review the key players behind Bitcoin's rise over the past 16 years. This list evaluates their actual contributions to Bitcoin's mainstream acceptance from multiple core dimensions and visually presents the profound impact of each player through a "star rating."

The evaluation dimensions include:

• Technical and Ideological Contribution: Whether they have promoted technological advancements or the development of ideas related to Bitcoin.
• Market Influence: Whether they have significantly impacted Bitcoin's price or adoption rate through investments, products, or policies.
• Community and Education: Whether they have enhanced Bitcoin's recognition through media, speeches, or community activities.
• Sustainability and Reputation: Whether they have consistently promoted Bitcoin over the long term and maintained a positive image in the industry.

Let’s take a look back at who has pushed Bitcoin from a "pizza voucher" to the pinnacle of global assets today?

Protocol Blacksmith

Origin Coordinates: Satoshi Nakamoto

• Identity: Founder of Bitcoin
• Contribution Dimensions: White paper publication, network launch, coding development
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭ (Hall of Fame)

Undoubtedly the "creator," the sower of the seeds of technology and ideology, directly entering the "Hall of Fame." Satoshi Nakamoto holds approximately 1.1 million bitcoins, accounting for about 5% of the total supply, and their "sleeping" assets provide a symbol of stability for the market. They spread the idea of Bitcoin through cryptographic mailing lists in the early days and retired after 2010.

Casey Rodarmor (Inventor of the Ordinals Protocol)

• Representative Event: Proposed the Ordinals protocol in 2023, sparking a Bitcoin NFT craze
• Impact Dimension: Opened the Pandora's box of "non-monetary uses" for Bitcoin, activating developers and new narratives
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Casey Rodarmor released the Ordinals protocol in early 2023, allowing users to inscribe text, images, and other data on the Bitcoin blockchain, which also led to the birth of new asset standards like BRC-20, revitalizing the Bitcoin ecosystem. Despite causing significant controversy in the Bitcoin community, with some core developers believing it "pollutes" block space, it is undeniable that Ordinals broke Bitcoin's singular narrative, attracting considerable attention from developers, artists, and capital.

Luke Dashjr (Early BTC Core Developer)

• Representative Event: Over a decade of continuous participation in Bitcoin Core code maintenance and upgrades
• Impact Dimension: One of the most experienced core developers, guarding the Bitcoin protocol as a "gatekeeper"
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Luke Dashjr is one of the earliest BTC core developers and remains active. He has contributed to the Bitcoin core code since 2011, responsible for adding support for BIP 22 and 23 protocols, and maintains part of the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals on GitHub. He released BFG Miner in 2014, which has become one of the most widely used implementations for Bitcoin mining.

Adam Back (Co-founder & CEO of Blockstream)

• Representative Event: Early cryptographer, inventor of Hashcash; later promoted the development of Bitcoin sidechains, Lightning Network, and other infrastructure
• Impact Dimension: Dual preaching of ideology and technology
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Adam Back is one of the few individuals mentioned in Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper. His invention of Hashcash is used in Bitcoin's proof-of-work mechanism, becoming one of the technical sources of BTC's consensus mechanism, and at Blockstream, he has promoted the development of key scaling and privacy tools like the Liquid sidechain and Lightning Network.

Roger Ver (Founder of Bitcoin.com)

• Representative Event: Early investor in blockchain startups; later led the push for the BCH fork
• Impact Dimension: An early evangelist for Bitcoin, also the most controversial representative of the "splitters"
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Roger Ver is known as "Bitcoin Jesus," one of the most radical early evangelists and investors in Bitcoin, making significant contributions to its global adoption and dissemination of its technological ideas. He supported the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fork in 2017, opposing Bitcoin Core's small block strategy, which led to community division and damage to his reputation.

Institutional Evangelists & Wall Street Guides

Michael Saylor (Co-founder of Strategy)

• Representative Event: Invested corporate assets in Bitcoin, with total holdings exceeding 150,000 bitcoins
• Impact Dimension: Pioneer of asset allocation paradigms for publicly traded companies, promoting BTC as "corporate treasury"
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Since 2020, Michael Saylor has led Strategy to accumulate approximately 560,000 bitcoins (about 2.6% of the total supply), sparking a wave of corporate investment, and his Bitcoin strategy has caused the company's stock price to soar. Through interviews, Twitter (X), and crypto event summits, Saylor has become a global evangelist for Bitcoin, attracting institutional investors.

Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock)

• Representative Event: Promoted the application for a Bitcoin spot ETF, which was successfully approved
• Impact Dimension: Brought BTC into the "compliance threshold" for institutional investment, legitimizing it in the context of global asset allocation
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Fink once called Bitcoin a "money laundering tool" in 2017, but in 2023, he made a dramatic turn to embrace Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) was approved in 2024, becoming the fastest-growing ETF in history, managing over $63.7 billion in assets, attracting traditional investors, and pushing Bitcoin's price above $100,000.

Barry Silbert (Founder of DCG)

• Representative Event: Created the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), guiding early institutional capital entry
• Impact Dimension: Built a "trust channel" for Bitcoin, becoming an important transition before ETFs
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Barry Silbert's Grayscale was once the most important channel for promoting institutional compliance in holding Bitcoin. In 2013, he launched the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), providing a way for institutions and retail investors to invest in Bitcoin without directly holding it, transitioning to an ETF by 2024, managing nearly $20 billion in assets.

Jack Dorsey (Founder of Block, former CEO of Twitter)

• Representative Event: Enabled Bitcoin buying and selling through Cash App in 2018, promoted Block's (formerly Square) acquisition and long-term holding of Bitcoin, initiated the Btrust fund
• Impact Dimension: A promoter of BTC in Silicon Valley and the internet sphere
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Jack Dorsey is a staunch believer in Bitcoin's ideology. Cash App under Block has become an important entry point for millions of users to access BTC, and he actively develops open-source self-custody wallets and mining hardware, promoting the construction of decentralized Bitcoin infrastructure. The Btrust fund he initiated supports developers globally, initially focusing on teams in Africa and India.

Cathie Wood (Founder of ARK Invest)

• Representative Event: Continuously applied for Bitcoin ETFs, publicly supporting Bitcoin's long-term value
• Impact Dimension: Encouraged a new generation of growth investors (especially tech stock investors) to pay attention to BTC
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

ARK Invest's ARKW ETF has invested in Bitcoin-related companies (like Grayscale, Coinbase) since 2018. In 2021, it began applying for a Bitcoin spot ETF, which was approved in 2024, managing over $5 billion in assets.

Elon Musk (Founder of Tesla, X, SpaceX)

• Representative Event: In 2021, Tesla announced the purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and later announced it would accept Bitcoin payments (which were paused due to energy consumption issues).
• Impact Dimension: One of the most influential entrepreneurs globally, whose every move directly affects the sentiment of the crypto market
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Musk plays the role of an "emotional driver" and "disruptor" in Bitcoin's history. In 2021, Tesla's decision to purchase Bitcoin sparked a wave of institutional follow-ups and pushed BTC prices to new highs. Additionally, his support for the meme coin DOGE helped bring meme culture to the forefront of the crypto asset world.

Paul Tudor Jones (Legendary Hedge Fund Manager)

• Representative Event: Publicly invested in Bitcoin in 2020, calling it "the best asset to hedge against inflation"
• Impact Dimension: Opened the cognitive floodgates for traditional Wall Street capital, marking one of the turning points for Bitcoin's institutionalization
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Paul Tudor Jones is a key driver of Bitcoin's institutionalization, accelerating its mainstream acceptance with his macro investment perspective and influence on Wall Street. His investment encouraged institutions like Bridgewater and JPMorgan to follow suit, attracting Wall Street capital inflow.

Policy Coordinate Adjusters

Nayib Bukele (President of El Salvador)

• Representative Event: Pushed El Salvador to become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender
• Impact Dimension: Elevated Bitcoin from "asset" to "currency" status, opening a national-level adoption paradigm
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Nayib Bukele promoted the "Bitcoin Law" in June 2021, making El Salvador the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, allowing it to be used for taxes, payments, and debt settlements. The government launched the Chivo wallet, planned to build a "Bitcoin City," and utilized geothermal energy from volcanoes to mine Bitcoin. This national-level practice, despite ongoing controversies, undoubtedly became a milestone in Bitcoin's history.

Donald Trump (Former President of the United States)

• Representative Event: Advocated for including Bitcoin in the national strategic reserve, promising to "make America the crypto capital"
• Impact Dimension: Strengthened Bitcoin's status through national executive power, opening a new era of "sovereign Bitcoin" narrative
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

During his 2024 campaign, Trump boldly promised to "make America the Bitcoin capital." In early 2025, shortly after taking office, he signed an executive order requiring the Treasury Department to study the inclusion of Bitcoin in the strategic reserve, accelerating the shift towards a friendly regulatory environment. His policy stance not only reshaped the Bitcoin regulatory framework in the U.S. but also heated global policy discussions, prompting other countries to explore Bitcoin reserve plans.

Gary Gensler (Former SEC Chairman)

• Representative Event: Approved the first batch of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S. during his tenure, ending a decade of rejections
• Impact Dimension: The "final liberator" on the regulatory front
• Star Rating: ✭✭

Gary Gensler played a complex and controversial role in promoting Bitcoin policy. Between 2021 and 2023, he led lawsuits against exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, accusing them of unregistered securities trading, indirectly forcing Bitcoin-related companies to enhance compliance and promote industry standardization. In 2024, under market and political pressure, Gensler approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking a turning point in Bitcoin's mainstreaming process.

Cynthia Lummis (Chair of the U.S. Senate Digital Assets Subcommittee)

• Representative Event: Proposed the "Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Act" and pushed for legislative reforms in cryptocurrency regulation
• Impact Dimension: A legislative supporter of Bitcoin, dedicated to establishing a clear policy framework to protect the crypto market
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Cynthia Lummis is a leading figure in promoting Bitcoin policy standardization through legislation and regional experimentation. Wyoming has become a crypto-friendly state under her advocacy, and the state plans to issue the first state-level stablecoin in July.

Hester Peirce (SEC Commissioner)

• Representative Event: Advocated for a clearer regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market, supporting the launch of Bitcoin ETFs
• Impact Dimension: A proponent of regulatory reform, advocating for a more lenient and flexible regulatory environment for the crypto market
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Hester Peirce, known as "Crypto Mom," has long supported the legalization of cryptocurrency assets within the SEC, promoting the approval of innovative financial products like Bitcoin ETFs. Peirce's views hold significant influence in the industry, making her an important force in advancing the legalization of the crypto sector.

Ashley Alder (CEO of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission)

• Representative Event: Promoted the licensing system for virtual asset platforms in Hong Kong, strengthening cross-border regulatory cooperation
• Impact Dimension: Guided crypto regulatory policies in the Asia-Pacific region, balancing innovation and risk control
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Ashley Alder has established Hong Kong's position as a global crypto hub with a clear regulatory framework and forward-looking policies. She led the implementation of a licensing system for virtual asset trading platforms, approved Asia's first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in April 2024, and plans to introduce a stablecoin regulatory framework.

Wu Jiezhuang (Legislative Council Member of Hong Kong)

• Representative Event: Proposed a fund of HKD 100 million to support the Web3 industry and advocated for "Digital Pass" to allow mainland investors to buy and sell Hong Kong-recognized digital assets
• Impact Dimension: Advocated for compliant innovation in the virtual asset field, promoting Hong Kong's crypto ecosystem
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Wu Jiezhuang is a key figure in promoting the development of the digital economy and virtual assets in Hong Kong. He is the chairman of the Legislative Council's Web3 and Virtual Assets Development Subcommittee and has proposed a fund of HKD 100 million to support the Web3 industry and advocate for "Digital Pass" to allow mainland investors to buy and sell Hong Kong-recognized digital assets.

Crypto OGs and Platform Promoters

Brian Armstrong (Co-founder of Coinbase)

• Representative Event: Founded Coinbase, establishing it as the largest compliant crypto trading platform in the U.S., successfully listed and included in the S&P 500 index
• Impact Dimension: Coinbase represents the regulatory compliance path in the U.S., providing an entry point for retail and institutional investors
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Brian Armstrong is a key figure in the crypto world’s move towards compliance and capital markets. In 2021, Coinbase went public, and recently, Coinbase stock was included in the S&P 500 index, marking an important milestone in connecting the industry with Wall Street. He also supports spot Bitcoin ETFs for BlackRock, Fidelity, and others through Coinbase Prime and custody services, solidifying Bitcoin's institutionalization process.

Jihan Wu (Founder of Bitmain and Matrixport)

• Representative Event: Founded Bitmain, Bitdeer, and Matrixport, leading the mining industry landscape
• Impact Dimension: Enhanced the security and computational power growth of the Bitcoin network by providing efficient mining equipment
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Jihan Wu is known for translating Satoshi Nakamoto's original Bitcoin white paper and is an important figure in the industrialization of Bitcoin. The Bitmain he founded once controlled over 70% of the global hash rate, making it one of the earliest capital promoters of Bitcoin. However, his insistence on the large block route and support for the BCH fork led to community division. Internal strife at Bitmain resulted in his exit from management in 2021.

Li Lin (Founder of Huobi)

• Representative Event: Founded Huobi, promoting the early popularization of the crypto market in China
• Impact Dimension: Huobi was once one of the largest trading platforms globally, facilitating Bitcoin's adoption in Asia
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭

Li Lin played an important role in promoting the early crypto market in China. In 2014, he shared the stage with Wu Xiaoling, a member of the National People's Congress, at the Sanya Financial Forum, presenting "The Development and Prospects of Cryptographic Digital Currency," promoting Bitcoin's financial potential. He was investigated in 2020 due to regulatory pressure and exited as a shareholder and manager of Huobi in 2022.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ, Founder of Binance)

• Representative Event: Founded Binance, rapidly developing it into the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally
• Impact Dimension: Provided diversified trading services, promoting the circulation and adoption of Bitcoin worldwide
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

Changpeng Zhao is renowned for his significant contributions to building global exchanges and promoting Bitcoin adoption. He founded Binance in 2017, establishing a complete ecosystem including public chains, wallets, incubators, and stablecoins. Despite resigning as CEO of Binance due to regulatory pressure, CZ continues to promote the adoption of Bitcoin and crypto assets, with his personal influence spanning retail, projects, and regulatory circles.

Star Xu (Founder of OKX)

• Representative Event: Founded OKX, providing diversified cryptocurrency trading services
• Impact Dimension: An innovator in the Asian crypto trading structure, promoting the development of contracts and derivatives
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Star Xu founded OKCoin (later developed into OKX) in 2013, which became one of the largest Bitcoin trading platforms globally in 2014. He has authored books such as "Blockchain Illustrated" and "Token Economy." In 2020, he faced restrictions due to an equity acquisition investigation and exited the board of OK Group in 2022.

Marty Bent (Podcast Host)

• Representative Event: Managing partner at Ten31, host of the podcast "Tales from the Crypt," promoting the deep dissemination of Bitcoin ideology
• Impact Dimension: Through podcasts, media, and educational content, he spreads Bitcoin culture, having a profound impact on grassroots communities and developer ecosystems in the U.S.
• Star Rating: ✭✭

Marty Bent conveys Bitcoin's values through words and the microphone, being an important guardian of Bitcoin's spiritual core. He was the former head of Great American Mining, actively promoting the use of wasted energy for Bitcoin mining and advocating for the combination of energy reuse and decentralized network security.

Jimmy Song (Bitcoin Educator, Developer, and Entrepreneur)

• Representative Event: Delivered speeches globally and published multiple Bitcoin books
• Impact Dimension: A bridge figure for technical popularization and ideological dissemination, connecting developers and the public
• Star Rating: ✭✭

Jimmy Song was a contributor to Bitcoin Core, later focusing on education and advocacy, publishing books like "Programming Bitcoin" and "Thank God for Bitcoin," and has been promoting Bitcoin at global conferences for many years.

Andreas M. Antonopoulos (Bitcoin Educator, Author)

• Representative Event: Published classic works such as "Mastering Bitcoin" and "The Internet of Money," conducting global tours to disseminate Bitcoin ideology
• Impact Dimension: A foundational figure in building public awareness of Bitcoin
• Star Rating: ✭✭✭✭

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is one of the most influential educators in the Bitcoin community. He has written over 200 popular science articles on Bitcoin and conducted dozens of lectures worldwide, promoting the idea that "Bitcoin is the cornerstone of decentralized finance," influencing global policy discussions.