The largest digital asset in the world, Bitcoin, has grown by almost 65% since January, with swings of ten to twenty percent in between. Along the way, it attracted several new individual investors when payment juggernauts like PayPal enabled cryptocurrency trading. More billionaires and institutional investors joined the fray to legitimize the asset class further. The sector now extends well beyond bitcoin. Leading into 2023, NFTs, blockchain-based gaming, and “Web3” are in the thoughts of the crypto CEO. The biggest question mark continues to be regulation.

Here is a look at some of the most important Crypto CEO in the sector.

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX

The founder and CEO, who is 29 years old, told CNBC that he does not anticipate that legislative action will provide “regulatory certainty” immediately. Especially considering that “getting things through Congress right now is fairly difficult.”

The guardrails are just as likely to be assembled from various declarations, enforcement actions, and “other signals,” according to Bankman-Fried. The CEO continues to be optimistic about Solana as an Ethereum substitute. However, it’s feasible that a brand-new blockchain will emerge as the “Holy Grail,” capable of supporting a million transactions per second. There are currently “few even trying to reach that point,” he claimed.

“The SEC, in trying to prove their case has failed” says Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s suit against his crypto payments company https://t.co/udGVgeHRkK pic.twitter.com/CClUR68jB8

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) March 7, 2023

Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle

The Circle CEO urges individuals, businesses, and financial institutions to adopt dollar-pegged cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. The USDC stablecoin is run by Circle, which plans to go public via SPAC.

Allaire anticipates that institutional acceptance of cryptocurrency will increase, and trendsetter celebrities will use NFTs to promote their brands. He added that DAOs, which rely on crowdsourcing, might even “compete venture capital investors on some of the largest and sexiest businesses in crypto.”

Brian Brooks, CEO of Bitfury and a former OCC leader

Former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks claimed that policymakers in Washington now agree that cryptocurrency is here to stay. After a record-breaking 2021, he anticipates further popular acceptance of cryptocurrency and additional record-breaking financing rounds.

For instance, not all “crypto” is intended to function like or is a currency.

The CEO of Paxos, Charles Cascarilla

Behind the scenes, PayPal’s cryptocurrency offering is powered by Paxos. Charles Cascarilla, the CEO, anticipates increased activity in the stablecoin market. His business sells USDP, a coin pegged to the dollar. The CEO is one of many who warn that the United States is to lose a great deal from poor regulation.

Also Read: Nations are Competing to Attract Crypto Entrepreneurs

Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of Grayscale Investments

The debut of the first bitcoin ETF based on futures was a significant industry milestone this year. However, Grayscale and other business leaders want to go one step further.

GBTC, the biggest bitcoin trust in the world, is being converted into an ETF, and CEO Michael Sonnenshein is hopeful that it will be approved in 2022. In addition, he observes “tension” between Big Tech and startups and investor interest that extends beyond bitcoin.

Christine Brown, COO and Lead for Crypto at Robinhood

As a stock trading startup, Robinhood got its start. But it received more than half its total revenue from cryptocurrency trades in its second quarter as a publicly traded firm. More than 60% of those were Dogecoin transactions. Executives have stated that they are introducing new assets on the platform carefully until there is more regulatory clarity because the asset class is becoming more crucial to the company’s bottom line.

CEO of Pomp Investments, Anthony Pompliano

“Pomp” is undoubtedly familiar if you’ve browsed cryptocurrency Twitter. The trader, who has more than a million followers, is well known for his bullish predictions regarding bitcoin. He claimed that the asset has changed from a “contrarian idea on Wall Street in 2021” to a “consensus idea.” He anticipates that traditional businesses will utilize bitcoin more in the coming year by adding it to their balance sheets and eventually creating specialized business units.

Pompliano also brought up developments in the bitcoin mining sector after China outlawed the practice, bitcoin’s potential for international payments, and a “brain drain” from Wall Street and Big Tech.

Association for Digital Asset Markets CEO Michelle Bond

While this year was hectic for the crypto trade group in Washington, DC, Bond predicted that “2022 is going to be far busier.” She also anticipates that the SEC will announce other enforcement actions.

Noah Perlman, COO of Gemini

The cryptocurrency exchange, established by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, increased its valuation to $7 billion this year and is one of many companies considering applying for a bitcoin ETF. Its COO, Noah Perlman, predicts that cryptocurrency payments will become widely accepted, more non-tech enterprises will embrace the Metaverse, and more women will enter a male-dominated industry.

Ava Labs’ President John Wu

Although new, alternative blockchains are emerging as platforms to create NFTs and other apps, Ethereum has had a breakthrough year. Among the recent Ethereum rivals are Avalanche. Ava Labs’ former hedge fund trader president projects a “brain drain” as software developers leave Big Tech searching for the next generation of computers and a shake-out of “speculative” assets. He also anticipates a continued decline in bitcoin’s market share.