CryptoDaily™ is thrilled to return with our annual international award for the trailblazers shaping Web3’s future. Since its launch in 2022, the award has been dedicated to recognizing outstanding builders, innovators, and storytellers who continue to drive the industry forward. For 2025, our mission remains the same: highlight the personalities who not only survived the turbulence of crypto markets but also turned challenges into momentum. This year’s awards celebrate honorees across seven categories: entrepreneurship, development, design, PR & marketing, public speakership, opinion leadership, and trading. Panel of Judges As always, our jury members, respected experts in their own fields, took the time to carefully review dozens of nominees before narrowing the list down to a select group of winners in each category. For every category, we highlight three honorees: the jury’s choice, recognizing the most outstanding contributor of the year; the jury’s runner-up pick, honoring a strong contender just one step behind; and finally, the CryptoDaily™ honorable mention, our editorial board’s way of shining a light on a personality we believe is worth watching. In the sections ahead, you’ll also meet each jury for every category, along with this year’s honorable jury member – because the people helping us celebrate these voices deserve some recognition too. Entrepreneurship Zach Bruch , a serial entrepreneur and the founder of MyPrize, a social gaming platform that quickly reached a $250M valuation with backing from Dragonfly Capital. Before MyPrize, he co-founded RECUR, a Web3 marketing platform, and Switchboard, a Solana-based oracle. Known for building in high-pressure environments, he also served on the FTX creditors committee, helping shape one of crypto’s most complex restructurings. Development Muneeb Ali , the co-founder of Stacks, the smart contract platform that brings programmability to Bitcoin. With a PhD in computer science and a track record of bridging academia, regulation, and industry, he helped launch the first SEC-qualified crypto token offering and pioneered the Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism. His work has made him one of the most trusted voices on the intersection of blockchain research and real-world development. Design Mo Shaikh , the co-founder of Aptos Labs, the Layer 1 blockchain that raised over $400M to bring scalable, user-friendly infrastructure to Web3. His background spans from blockchain startups like Meridio, where he explored tokenized real estate, to global strategy roles in finance and tech. At Aptos, Mo combined design thinking with execution, helping reframe how products, governance, and user experience come together in decentralized systems. PR & marketing Mike Ermolaev , one of Web3’s most recognizable storytellers, blending journalism, market analysis, and strategy into a voice that’s helped shape the industry’s narrative. As founder of Outset PR and author of the “Crypto Opinion” series for Benzinga, he’s built a reputation for making sense of complex market shifts while keeping the bigger picture in focus. With bylines at outlets like Cointelegraph Brazil and years at the forefront of crypto PR, Mike isn’t just reporting on Web3 – he’s actually helping define how the world understands it. Public speakership Gracy Chen – CEO of Bitget Gracy Chen is the only female CEO among the world’s top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges and one of the industry’s most effective communicators. Since taking the helm at Bitget, she has expanded the platform from 20 million to over 120 million users, while diversifying from derivatives into spot trading, wallets, asset management, and broader Web3 initiatives. Her background as a television host sharpened her ability to explain complex topics with clarity, making her a frequent voice on Bloomberg, CNBC, Nikkei Asia, Barron’s, Reuters, and other major outlets. Beyond driving growth, Gracy has championed inclusion and innovation. She launched Bitget’s $10 million Blockchain4Her program to promote gender diversity in blockchain, led partnerships with Lionel Messi, Juventus, and LALIGA, and most recently brought Bitget into UNICEF’s Game Changers Coalition with a pledge to educate one million girls by 2027. Opinion leadership Maria Carola – CEO at StealthEX Maria Carola has spent close to a decade navigating the crypto sector, moving from marketing strategist to executive leader. She first gained visibility as Chief Marketing Officer at a multi-currency cryptocurrency wallet, helping shape its brand within the competitive space. Her focus later shifted to StealthEX, a non-custodial instant exchange that allows seamless, registration-free swaps for over 2000 crypto assets. After two years as CMO, she became CEO, guiding the platform through expansion while keeping its identity rooted in privacy and decentralization. Known for pushing simpler onboarding and cross-chain accessibility, she blends her background in storytelling with a practical grasp of product growth. Trading Brett Harrison , the founder and CEO of Architect Financial Technologies, a company building institutional-grade infrastructure for digital asset trading. Before launching Architect, he served as President of FTX US, where he oversaw the development of its trading platform and helped expand access to regulated markets. Earlier in his career, Brett built algorithmic trading systems at Jane Street and Citadel Securities, giving him deep roots in traditional markets as well as crypto. Honorable Jury’s Member William Entriken , best known as the lead author of ERC-721, the standard that defined NFTs and shaped today’s digital collectibles market. Beyond this, he has worked as a solutions architect and civic hacker, applying blockchain to practical use cases that reach beyond speculation. Will has shared his insights at events such as NFT.NYC, NFT Tallinn, and Chain76, where he’s recognized for connecting technical depth with a clear, grounded vision of how Web3 can evolve. Now, let’s dive into the categories and their honorees for the 2025 CryptoDaily™ Awards. Winners Entrepreneurship Jury’s Choice – Vlad Gorbunov, founder at Choise.ai Vlad Gorbunov is a professional entrepreneur with long-standing experience in establishing fintech projects. For the past 8 years, he has been developing ventures with the goal of making crypto accessible to everyone. In 2024 he founded the Choise.ai ecosystem, focusing on enterprise and B2B solutions that integrated several well-known projects including Choise.com (formerly Crypterium), Vault, Vbanq, and Charism. Today, Choise.ai stands as a leader in providing crypto-fiat infrastructure for banks, fintech startups, and enterprises worldwide. The total capitalization of Vlad’s projects in the cryptocurrency sector exceeded $1 billion in 2025. As a professional businessman, Vlad states his credo is to create “something that doesn’t exist yet, but you feel that it should.” Jury’s runner-up pick – Diana Biggs, partner at 1kx Diana Biggs helps connect 1kx’s portfolio of more than 90 projects with institutions, investors, and partners. She also serves on the boards of Kiln and HIVE Digital Technologies Switzerland, and lectures on blockchain and digital assets at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Before joining 1kx, Diana was Chief Strategy Officer at Valour and CEO of its crypto ETP business, which she grew from launch through to acquisition. She has also led digital innovation for HSBC Private Banking and held leadership roles at Uphold and Soko, alongside consulting at Oliver Wyman. Her writing on fintech and crypto has appeared in Sifted, the World Economic Forum, and the Journal of Digital Banking. Diana is recognized not just for her leadership in finance and technology, but for her commitment to making crypto more inclusive and accessible. CryptoDaily™ honorable mention – Lionel Iruk, managing partner at NAV Markets Lionel Iruk is a U.S.-licensed securities attorney with more than 15 years of experience bridging traditional finance and crypto. At NAVMarkets, a global advisory firm helping funds, companies, and governments structure and operate investment vehicles across jurisdictions, he leads legal and structuring work around SPAC transactions, exempt fund registrations, and Bitcoin-based treasury strategies. Lionel has advised clients in over 40 countries, including ultra high net worth individuals, institutional funds, and companies such as Binance, Bitcoin.com, and early DeFi protocols. Beyond private practice, he has also served as a government consultant, often stepping in to navigate regulatory gridlock in emerging and multi-jurisdictional markets. Licensed in both Texas and California, he operates across the U.S., MENA, Hong Kong, and Singapore, with a track record spanning Reg D/Reg S offerings, reverse mergers, and dual-token frameworks. His recognition highlights not only his legal expertise but also his ability to guide projects through some of the most complex regulatory challenges in crypto today. Development Jury’s Choice – Ivan Liljeqvist, founder of Moralis Academy Better known as Ivan on Tech, Ivan is a Swedish developer and YouTube creator now based in Cyprus. He started his channel in 2017 while working as a programmer at Ericsson, and quickly found an audience after one of his early videos on Ethereum took off. Since then, his channel has grown to more than half a million subscribers, making him one of the better-known voices covering crypto and blockchain. Together with Filip Martinsson, he co-founded Ivan on Tech Academy in 2017, an online school focused on blockchain and programming that has taught tens of thousands of students worldwide. The academy later evolved into Moralis Academy, linked to the broader Moralis platform he founded – a toolkit for developers building Web3 apps, games, and NFTs. Jury’s runner-up pick – Denis Angell, software engineer at XRPL-Labs Dennis is a hands-on builder in the XRP Ledger community, known for turning technical ideas into real features. As a Ripple(d) Core Developer, he helped ship several key XLS amendments that upgraded the ledger’s functionality. He also co-created Xahau, a sidechain designed to unlock new use cases for the XRP ecosystem. Beyond protocol work, Denis has built private ledgers for enterprise clients, tailoring distributed systems to fit business demands rather than theory. His focus on practical development and his commitment to the XRPL community have made him one of the go-to names for advancing the ledger’s future. In every project, Denis brings a mix of technical precision and genuine belief in the long-term potential of XRPL. CryptoDaily™ Honorable Mention – Reece Williams, principal software engineer in the Cosmos-SDK and Ethereum ecosystems Reece Williams is known for building the tools that power interchain development. In June 2025, he spoke at The InterChain Summit in Berlin, where his practical insights on infrastructure and developer tooling stood out among project teams, investors, and community members. Beyond Berlin, Reece is a familiar face at conferences and workshops, where he prefers sharing lessons from real-world code rather than abstract theory. His projects include Spawn for scaffolding Cosmos networks, Cosmos Proof of Authority, and a local Interchain dev environment, alongside contributions to initiatives like shielded ERC-20s for the Central Bank of Brazil’s CBDC. Both as a builder and as a speaker, he’s recognized for making complex systems feel approachable, helping developers and organizations push Cosmos forward with confidence. Design Jury’s choice – Mirko Pratofiorito, designer at LayerZero Labs Mirko Pratofiorito is a senior designer and art director whose work blends visual storytelling with brand identity. At LayerZero Labs, a fast-rising protocol known for making communication between blockchains seamless and secure, he has contributed to major design initiatives, from refreshing brand visuals to creating marketing collateral across digital and print. His projects range from social media content and motion graphics to user-centric web design, always with a focus on clarity and cohesion. Before joining LayerZero, he worked as a Senior Designer at NoBoringDesign and as Assistant Creative Director at TAMMY & BENJAMIN, shaping interfaces and visual strategies for diverse platforms. Based in Paris, Mirko approaches design with a mix of creativity and discipline, driven by a belief in pushing boundaries while leaving a meaningful footprint. Jury’s runner-up pick – Plinio Braga, lead UX designer at Kleros Plinio Braga has played a central role in shaping Kleros’ design system and user-facing products. His work focuses on turning complex blockchain processes, like decentralized dispute resolution, into intuitive experiences that are accessible to a broad audience. By creating the Kleros Design System, he has provided a modular framework that continues to guide the platform’s growth and usability. Plinio’s contributions extend beyond design execution – he regularly shares his expertise with the broader Web3 community, including presenting at EthCC on the challenges of modular design for decentralized applications. With Kleros releasing major updates through 2025, including the rollout of Kleros 2.0, his influence remains visible in every iteration of the product. Recognized for combining creativity with technical rigor, Plinio represents a new generation of designers helping Web3 move closer to everyday usability. CryptoDaily™ Honorable Mention – Laura Bosazzi, head of UX at BlockSplit Laura Bosazzi is a UX designer with more than a decade of experience. With a background that spans digital and graphic design, she brings a mix of creative illustration skills and user-centered thinking to the products she builds. Laura has worked across everything from branding guidelines and print campaigns to web and app design, always with a focus on making technology feel intuitive. In the crypto space, she is particularly focused on tackling the everyday frustrations of users and finding practical design solutions that make blockchain tools easier to understand. Known for combining creativity with structure, she has become a strong voice in pushing crypto toward more accessible and human-centered design. PR & Marketing Jury’s choice – Julia Magas, co-founder of Magas PR and M8M Agency Julia Magas has built her career at the intersection of media, markets, and storytelling. As co-founder of Magas PR and M8M Agency, she has helped Web3 companies craft narratives that reach beyond technical circles and into mainstream attention. With years of experience as a journalist and analyst for outlets like Nasdaq, Investing.com, Seeking Alpha, InvestorPlace, and Cointelegraph, Julia knows how stories travel, and how to position projects so their message cuts through the noise. Her background gives her a unique edge as a PR strategist. Julia combines the precision of a financial analyst with the instincts of a journalist, ensuring that every campaign speaks to both industry insiders and the wider public. By bridging data-driven insight with creative communication, she has become a trusted partner for Web3 projects that want more than headlines – lasting visibility and credibility. Jury’s Runner-up Pick – Oded Onn, VP of Marketing at StarkWare Oded Onn is a marketing strategist who has carved out a reputation at the heart of the crypto and blockchain world. As VP of Marketing at StarkWare, the team behind Starknet, he leads branding, ecosystem growth, and go-to-market efforts for one of the most important scaling technologies in the industry. His work focuses on translating complex cryptography, STARK proofs that power ZK-rollups into clear narratives that resonate with both developers and the wider Web3 community. Before StarkWare, Oded built marketing strategies across industries like payments, mobile gaming, and e-commerce, experience that gives him a unique lens on how to grow blockchain ecosystems at a global scale. With a background in computer science and an MBA in marketing and strategy, he bridges technical depth with creative communication, making him one of the standout voices in crypto marketing today. CryptoDaily™ honorable mention – Nikita Sachdev, CEO and founder of Luna PR Nikita Sachdev has built a career on making crypto and Web3 feel relatable to wider audiences. She’s just as comfortable building strategies for major blockchain projects as she is speaking on stage at global events or in front of a TV camera. Her work with On the Chain, CNBC Arabia’s first Web3 show, brought crypto into over 50 million homes across the Middle East. Recognized by Arabian Business as one of the “50 Inspiring Women Leaders,” she has also become a familiar face at conferences and universities around the world. Beyond the titles, what makes Nikita stand out is her ability to tell stories that connect people to technology in a simple, human way. That’s why she’s our Honorable Mention in the PR & Marketing category this year. Public Speakership Jury’s choice – Dan Held, partner at Assymetric Dan Held is a Bitcoin educator, entrepreneur, and advisor whose work has shaped the industry for over a decade. He founded and sold two startups – ZeroBlock (acquired by Blockchain.com) and Interchange (acquired by Kraken, where he later became Director of Growth Marketing). Earlier in his career, he was part of Uber’s Growth Product and Marketing teams and one of the original members of the 2013 San Francisco crypto meetup, alongside the early founders of Coinbase, Ripple, and Kraken. Today, Dan advises Trust Machines while reaching an audience of over 850,000 followers across social media, where he simplifies Bitcoin and markets. He also writes The Held Report, a newsletter followed by tens of thousands of investors and traders. Jury’s runner-up pick – Anton Golub, Chief Business Officer at Freedx Anton Golub is a well-known public speaker and thought leader in the digital asset space, currently serving as Chief Business Officer at Freedx, an exchange built for both newcomers and professional traders. With two decades of experience in financial markets, he speaks frequently on topics ranging from tokenization and DAOs to the future of market infrastructure and regulation. A mathematician by training with a Master’s in Financial Mathematics, Anton has also held senior roles including CEO of flovtec, Chairman of SwissAssetDAO, and co-founder of Trust Square AG, Zurich’s leading blockchain hub. His mix of quantitative expertise and industry leadership has made him a regular voice at global conferences and panels, where he bridges technical depth with accessible insights for institutions, innovators, and regulators alike. CryptoDaily™ honorable mention – Pedro Vidal, community relations officer at Floki Pedro Vidal has established himself as a strong voice in the blockchain space, known for shaping narratives and driving conversations across global crypto communities. As Community Relations Officer at Floki and TokenFi, he manages partnerships, public campaigns, and media relations, but his influence extends far beyond company walls. Pedro is a familiar presence on the international stage, having spoken and participated at major conferences like TOKEN2049 in Dubai, WOW Summit, and others where he shares insights on community building and Web3 strategy. He’s also been featured in interviews with outlets such as New to The Street TV, where he offers perspectives on the evolving crypto landscape. Through weekly AMAs and VCs for Floki and TokenFi, Pedro connects directly with tens of thousands of community members, reinforcing his role as both a communicator and an opinion leader. Opinion Leadership Jury’s choice – Sam Elfarra community spokesperson at TRON With more than seven years in the industry, Sam Elfarra has built a reputation for shaping narratives around blockchain adoption and for steering conversations that influence both developers and institutions. His ability to articulate where the industry is heading has made him a trusted commentator whose opinions resonate across the Web3 community. Sam’s influence extends well beyond day-to-day advocacy. Through the TRON Builder Tour, he has engaged with students and researchers at leading universities including Harvard, MIT, and Princeton, mentoring the next wave of blockchain innovators and sparking dialogue on the role of decentralization in society. What sets Sam apart is his presence not only as a representative but as an opinion leader – someone whose perspective is actively sought out by audiences looking to make sense of a rapidly changing industry. By combining strategic vision with hands-on experience, he has become a leading advocate for community-driven progress and a respected voice in the ongoing conversation about blockchain’s future. Jury’s runner-up pick – Tim Kotzman, host of The Bitcoin Treasuries Podcas Tim Kotzman is all about growing corporate adoption of Bitcoin. He also writes the Bitcoin Treasuries Newsletter, published weekly, which has become a go-to resource for investors and executives tracking Bitcoin’s role in institutional finance. Tim is the organizer of the Bitcoin Treasuries Digital Conference, a first-of-its-kind event that brings together global finance and tech leaders to discuss how companies are integrating Bitcoin into their treasury strategies. Through his platforms, Tim has positioned himself as more than just a commentator — he’s become a voice shaping the conversation around Bitcoin’s place in corporate finance. His focus on real-world examples and institutional strategy, rather than hype, makes him a trusted guide for those who want to understand how digital assets are being adopted at the highest levels of business. CryptoDaily™ honorable mention – Alex Matsuo, co-head of Web3 at AWS Matsuo is focused on using AWS’s reach to bring the next billion people into the world of Web3. With a career spanning traditional finance and digital assets, he has built a reputation as someone whose perspective on Web3 adoption carries weight across both corporate and crypto-native audiences. He also held senior roles at OKX, served as Chief Investment Officer at a crypto-native fintech, and founded his own digital asset company running strategies across CeFi, DeFi, and OTC. Beyond his professional track record, Alex has become a sought-after voice at global conferences, including Paris Blockchain Week and the London Blockchain Conference, where he shares his views on how Web3 can move from niche adoption to mainstream integration. His ability to bridge enterprise strategy with crypto innovation positions him as an opinion leader whose insights are shaping how institutions approach the decentralized economy. Trading Jury’s choice – Adrian Zduńczyk, founder of Birb Nest Adrian Zduńczyk has built his reputation on the trading floor of crypto, where charts, cycles, and human psychology collide. He leads one of the most active trading communities in Web3, guiding both institutions and everyday investors through markets that often feel unpredictable. His background in quantitative finance and behavioral psychology gives him an edge, able to read not just the data but also the people behind it. Adrian is the creator of the 3T Framework, a trading methodology now used by hedge funds and over 100,000 traders worldwide, known for blending technical analysis, on-chain signals, and market psychology into a system that consistently anticipates cycles. His insights have landed him on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and made him a sought-after speaker at conferences where serious traders take notes. Jury’s runner-up pick – Avi Felman, head of trading at BlockTower Capital Avi Felman is a seasoned crypto trader and Principal at GoldenTree Asset Management, where he heads up digital assets trading and helps steer its dedicated arm, GoldenChain. With years in the markets, he’s one of the most experienced hands in digital asset trading, known for managing big portfolios and navigating volatile cycles with precision. Before joining GoldenTree, Avi co-ran trading at BlockTower Capital, where he helped grow the flagship fund from $40 million to over $800 million. Earlier, at Wave Financial, he played a key role in launching the first SEC-regulated Bitcoin fund while also leading derivatives strategy and execution. He even founded his own trading firm, Ledger Capital, focused on crypto investments. CryptoDaily™ honorable mention – Elroy Heisterkamp, founder of DayTradingCommunity Elroy Heisterkamp has been active in crypto since 2012, a journey marked by both big wins and hard lessons. The early years brought soaring highs and painful lows, shaping his belief that setbacks are often the real foundation of success. By 2017, he committed fully to trading, refining his approach through professional training in London and intensive coaching focused on mindset and discipline. Today, as the founder of DayTradingCommunity, Elroy combines his experience as a trader with his role as a trading coach, helping others build strategies grounded in consistency, psychology, and risk management. Through one-on-one guidance, he analyzes performance, gives feedback, and helps traders avoid emotional decision-making. For him, coaching is about developing the discipline and confidence needed to navigate the markets with clarity. Wrapping Up the 2025 CryptoDaily™ Awards And that’s a wrap on this year’s awards. Big thanks to our jury for lending us their sharp eyes (and sharper opinions), and to every honoree who keeps pushing Web3 forward even when the road isn’t smooth. What stood out in 2025 wasn’t just the wins, but the resilience, the experiments, and the bold ideas that refused to stay in the shadows. If this year is any clue, the next wave of builders, traders, creators, and storytellers won’t just keep pace with the industry, they’ll bend it in entirely new directions. We’ll be here to cheer them on, argue about the best picks, and, of course, hand out a few more trophies. So until the 2026 CryptoDaily™ Awards – keep building, keep trading, keep speaking your truth. We can’t wait to see who takes the spotlight next. Disclaimer: This is a sponsored article and is for informational purposes only. It does not reflect the views of Crypto Daily, nor is it intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, or financial advice.