The cryptocurrency sector is perpetually evolving, making it challenging to encapsulate the spirit of the year with just 50 names.
In conclusion to CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2025 series, we’re offering an honorable mention to a final group of nominees, shining a light on stories that gained traction in the latter part of the year or were on the brink of being listed. These names arise from expanding sectors of the industry such as prediction markets, resurgent areas like privacy, and prominent established entities.
Privacy, encompassing coins like Zcash and networks like Canton
Privacy has been a longstanding concern within the crypto ecosystem, incorporating privacy coins, mixers, and various tools designed to facilitate transactions without disclosing sensitive information. Participants in the industry, alongside key figures like U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins, are increasingly emphasizing the significance of privacy in cryptocurrency transactions.
Recently, Zcash (ZCH) has made a notable comeback, especially with the Zashi wallet defaulting shielded — or private — transactions, attracting substantial investment into the network’s tokens.
“The future of privacy reflects the past … in the United States, where I was born, and in the global community, individuals could freely converse. It was just between you and them,” remarked Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox in a CoinDesk Podcast interview. “You didn’t have to be concerned about someone overhearing. Similarly, for financial transactions, you simply pay for your purchases privately. No one else has insight or control over your spending habits. Zcash replicates that mechanism through cryptography online, preserving what humanity has maintained until about two decades ago: the autonomy regarding what you communicate and how you spend your money.”
Canton Network has recently been selected to serve as the tokenization partner for the notable Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). While Digital Asset, the firm behind Canton, and DTCC are currently collaborating on a minimally viable product, the aim is to enable certain U.S. Treasury securities to be issued on Canton, with the underlying assets held by the Depository Trust Company.
Canton operates as a privacy network, designed to permit participants to view only their transactions, yet it was also specifically developed for institutional and regulated transactions.
Kalshi co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara
The crypto-native prediction markets platform Polymarket officially re-entered the U.S. market this year, notably seeing increased traffic during the 2024 election cycle. However, it was Kalshi that led the way through a crucial legal challenge against the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Winning that case enabled Kalshi to roll out political prediction markets domestically, paving the way for other platforms. The company is now branching out into crypto and supporting multiple other platforms.
Having just secured $1 billion in funding, Kalshi is continuing to innovate. This fundraising effort elevated the net worth of founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara to over $1 billion.
Despite facing some challenges, Kalshi has inked several agreements this year to provide its prediction market services to other platforms, including Coinbase and Phantom Wallet, and will also be utilized by renowned news organization CNN.
Binance co-CEO Yi He
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, continues to expand. Yi He, one of its co-founders, has largely remained out of the public eye despite launching the exchange alongside Changpeng Zhao — with whom she shares children. Officially, she served as Binance’s head of marketing, but reports suggest she possesses significant influence behind the scenes, managing the Binance Labs venture capital fund, aiding BNB Chain’s growth, and overseeing Binance’s acquisitions.
Earlier this month, Yi He was officially designated co-CEO of the platform, alongside Zhao’s successor, Richard Teng.
“I prioritize empowering the organization and developing a [growing] company,” she shared with CoinDesk Podcasts earlier this year. “That’s a core area of focus, and additionally … being an OG in the space, I believe this change will enhance community trust, and I aim to concentrate on user feedback to refine our product and enhance our platform.”
“I think Yi significantly underestimates her contribution, right? … Anyone familiar with the crypto industry and Binance knows Yi has been integral from the start in developing our platform,” remarked Teng during the same podcast. “She plays an exceptionally crucial role in our progress.”
SharpLink chairman Joe Lubin
ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin — a familiar face on CoinDesk’s Most Influential list — adopted a new approach this year by assuming a board position at SharpLink, which has transformed into an Ethereum treasury firm holding nearly 900,000 ETH.
While many digital asset treasury firms opt for a hold strategy, SharpLink has pledged to actively allocate its assets, announcing plans to deploy $200 million worth of ether to ConsenSys’ layer-2 DeFi tool Linea in the upcoming years. The firm aspires to generate returns on its holdings, asserting that strategically utilizing its resources will render the treasury “more productive.”
The company also continues to secure funding for its ETH acquisitions.
Bridge founder Zach Abrams
The expansion of stablecoins is one of the prevailing narratives in 2025. With legislative actions urging federal regulators to create tailored guidelines for stablecoin issuers, the prominence of this niche within the broader crypto landscape has never been greater. It’s not exclusively about crypto-native firms; companies like PayPal are now entering this sphere.
Payment giant Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure startup Bridge earlier this year in a billion-dollar deal that finalized in February, initiating a series of partnerships, license applications, and new tools for other organizations to launch their own stablecoins. Zach Abrams, the founder of Bridge, mentioned that some of its infrastructure — like Open Issuance — is designed to enable platforms to swiftly create their bespoke stablecoins, as stated in a press release earlier this year.
