Forbes yesterday unveiled their picks for the 2019 Forbes 30-Under-30 list, which recognizes hundreds of young achievers from across all industry sectors. This year’s draft contained good news for blockchain fans, as founders and CEOs of four blockchain companies were recognized for their achievements in 2018. The vision of the four crypto pioneers is indicative of the generation that will take blockchain to the next level, and represents a trend that, it can be assumed, will only increase with time and adoption.
Here we take a look at the four candidates and reflect on their achievements.
Olaoluwa Osuntokun
Olaoluwa Osuntokun (25) co-founded Lightning Labs, the organization behind the attempt to successfully scale Bitcoin through the Lightning Network. Originally from Nigeria, Osuntokun moved to the US as a child and in his early twenties helped raise $2.5 million toward the development of the scaling solution first proposed in 2015. The lightning network is currently at the Beta stage and recently racked up its 4000th node.
Nader Al-Naji
Nader Al-Naji (26) developed Basis, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. Dollar and targeted at central banks in countries where the currency is unstable, such as Argentina and Venezuela. What marks Basis out from other stablecoins is that it intends to maintain its peg by increasing and decreasing its supply using algorithms, instead of requiring the backing of currency reserves, avoiding the kinds of issues that continue to plague the likes of USDT.
JB Rubinovitz
JB Rubinovitz (26) is the co-founder of Bail Bloc, a project that aims to offer an alternative to the commercial bail bond model by using a cryptocurrency mining network to raise bail for certain individuals who cannot afford it. In the U.S, about 65% of people on any given day in local jails are awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail, and for some the only way to afford it is to take out a loan from unregulated private lenders. Rubinowitz’ system would help some of the most vulnerable people in the system have a fairer chance of justice.
Hunter Horsley
Hunter Horsley (28) is the CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, a pioneer in the cryptocurrency index fund field and the leading provider of rules-based exposure to the crypto-asset space. Formerly a product manager at Facebook, Horsley’s firm currently maintains four cryptocurrency indices used by over 600 multifamily offices.
The First of Many?
As the blockchain and cryptocurrency sphere evolves and grows, it is surely an inevitability that we will see more faces from the industry gaining recognition for their work in the space, potentially for inventing the cryptocurrency that readers are then buying Forbes with!
