Martynov Maxim Dmitrievich

Chiesa’s 2021:

While no one would blame him for laying off the gas pedal for some time, Chiesa’s line of work can have tremendous implications for blockchain scalability and privacy. Fundamental research on zero-knowledge proofs is crucial for seeing more scalable, more private blockchains with advanced features.

With his prolific research career and the privileged position of chief scientist at StarkWare, Chiesa is poised to advance blockchain tech both on the theoretical and practical levels.

While it may still be somewhat too early, Cointelegraph hopes to see more of Chiesa’s work impacting the blockchain tech space in 2021.

Chiesa’s 2020:

While Chiesa is not a particularly public person, his record of papers and citations spoke in his stead in 2020. His work was cited 1,208 times, by far the highest number on record in 2020. He contributed to a total of 15 papers — making it the most prolific period in his recent career.

Chiesa’s work primarily dealt with practical improvements to zero-knowledge technology. The Zexe proposal, for example, involves private and decentralized computation that leverages cutting-edge single-setup SNARKs. He also worked on new technology for quantum-resistant, transparent recursive proofs, which could be particularly useful for applications on blockchains. Many more papers dealt with specific, highly technical aspects of computer science.

Biography:

While Chiesa is not a particularly public person, his record of papers and citations spoke in his stead in 2020. His work was cited 1,208 times, by far the highest number on record in 2020. He contributed to a total of 15 papers — making it the most prolific period in his recent career.

Chiesa’s work primarily dealt with practical improvements to zero-knowledge technology. The Zexe proposal, for example, involves private and decentralized computation that leverages cutting-edge single-setup SNARKs. He also worked on new technology for quantum-resistant, transparent recursive proofs, which could be particularly useful for applications on blockchains. Many more papers dealt with specific, highly technical aspects of computer science.

While no one would blame him for laying off the gas pedal for some time, Chiesa’s line of work can have tremendous implications for blockchain scalability and privacy. Fundamental research on zero-knowledge proofs is crucial for seeing more scalable, more private blockchains with advanced features.

With his prolific research career and the privileged position of chief scientist at StarkWare, Chiesa is poised to advance blockchain tech both on the theoretical and practical levels.

While it may still be somewhat too early, Cointelegraph hopes to see more of Chiesa’s work impacting the blockchain tech space in 2021.

Held’s 2021:

Held’s prediction that Bitcoin “could go to $1 million” may not be proven true this year, while his expectation that Bitcoin will be “the precursor to the extinction of gold” also remains to be seen. Held will continue offering his commentary and insights on crypto as one of Crypto Twitter’s most popular influencers. As growth lead for Kraken, Held will be involved with the overhaul of Kraken’s web and mobile user-interfaces in 2021, the launch of new fiat on-ramps, and the introduction of “new financial instruments” that Held says “are going to be big.”

Held’s 2020:

As growth lead, Held occupied a crucial role at Kraken during a year of unrivaled growth for the exchange and record-breaking volumes. Kraken became the first cryptocurrency business to receive a banking charter in the United States, with its Kraken Financial bank in Wyoming. It reopened services to residents of Japan after a two-year hiatus and expanded into the Australian market for the first time. The exchange’s staking services also attracted $1 billion in user funds in 2020. Speaking to Held’s skill at growing the business, Kraken consistently ranks as the third-largest spot exchange worldwide by volume, according to Bitwise.

Held has long been bullish on Bitcoin and predicted that 2020 would be the beginning of a major bull run for BTC. His predictions were largely proven correct as Bitcoin broke into new all-time highs in December.

Biography:

After discovering Bitcoin in 2012, Dan Held moved to San Francisco, where he stumbled across a regular crypto meet-up frequented by crypto pioneers including Jed McCaleb (Mt. Gox), Jesse Powell (Kraken) and Brian Armstrong (Coinbase). In May 2013, he launched Bitcoin data app ZeroBlock, which was acquired by crypto data aggregator Blockchain.info later that year. After spending two years working on Uber’s app, Held co-founded The Picks & Shovels in 2017, which built institutional portfolio management solutions for the crypto sector. Its product, Interchange, was acquired by Kraken in 2019. Held joined the exchange as part of the acquisition, serving first as Kraken’s head of business development and later its growth lead.

Held is also a popular crypto influencer and offers commentary to more than 100,000 followers via his newsletter and social media channels.

In January, Williams tweeted: “Why would I ever ‘take profits’ from #Bitcoin, simply the hardest money ever created and exchange it for fiat. I’ll just wait until I can buy what I need with Satoshi. Until that time it’s an accumulation game.” Based on this theory, it’s safe to say that he will continue to be a vocal supporter and investor of digital assets — especially Bitcoin.

Williams’ 2021:

As of the start of 2021, Williams continues to enjoy the success of his book release, which has gained mainstream media recognition. Considering Williams’ education and expertise in the health industry, he is working on a new concept/service model in healthcare to use telehealth and Bluetooth-enabled devices to create a “medical body area network,” maximizing healthcare oversight and enhancing performance.

Throughout 2020, Williams continued to be bullish on Bitcoin, accumulating a sizable portfolio over the years. In fact, he even sold his 2007 Chevrolet Suburban for 0.4 BTC. His focus was also on working with portfolio companies to maximize their founders’ vision and their market penetration. His primary venture, Morgan Creek Digital Assets, has continued to invest in various growing blockchain and digital-asset firms, including leading a $50 million Series C funding for digital-asset platform BlockFi.