Top 10
The Stablecoins Most Influential 2026 recognises the people shaping the global stablecoin ecosystem the issuers, builders, investors, policymakers, and operators driving its growth across six regions.
Honorees are assessed within their peer group across five dimensions: ecosystem influence, impact and reach, innovation, momentum, and peer recognition. Scoring is done internally and applied consistently; what we publish is the method, not the individual scores. The ranked Top 10 reflects influence that cuts across the whole ecosystem, normalised so no single category or region dominates the marquee.
The list is independent and merit-based. There is no paid placement, and no sponsorship, commercial relationship, or event participation influences inclusion or ranking.
Roles and titles were verified as current as of 1 June 2026.
By Category
Beyond the Top 10, the list spans ten peer groups across six regions. Within each category, names are listed alphabetically by first name the recognition is in the inclusion, not the order. Top 10 honorees are elevated to the marquee above and are not repeated here.
Together, these categories map where stablecoin influence actually sits today: from issuers and infrastructure builders to exchanges, DeFi, compliance, investors, policymakers, and the analysts and ecosystem voices shaping the conversation.
Issuer & Protocol Leaders
Adedeji Owonibi
Founder
Convexity/WCBDC (cNGN)
Caitlin Long
Founder & CEO
Custodia Bank (Avit)
Charles Cascarilla
CEO / co-founder
Paxos
Ian De Bode
CEO
Ondo Finance (USDY/OUSG)
Jan-Oliver Sell
CEO
Qivalis
Luca Prosperi
CEO / co-founder
M0
Marlyson Silva
Group President
Transfero (BRZ)
Martin Bruncko
Founder / CEO
Schuman Financial (EURØP)
Martin Carrica
Head of Stablecoin Issuance
Anchorage Digital
Monica Long
President
Ripple
Nick van Eck
CEO / co-founder
Agora (AUSD)
Noritaka Okabe
CEO
JPYC
Ramez Rafeek
General Manager
AED Stablecoin (AE Coin)
Rune Christensen
Co-founder
Sky (formerly MakerDAO; USDS/DAI)
Sam Kazemian
Founder / CEO
Frax Finance (frxUSD)
Sveinn Valfells
Co-founder & Chair of Monerium
Monerium
Tatsuya Saito
Founder / CEO
Progmat
Exchanges, On/Off-Ramps & Consumer Access
Caroline Pham
Head of MoonPay Institutional
and CLO, MoonPay
Former Acting Chair, CFTC
Chris Maurice
CEO / co-founder
Yellow Card
Emilie Choi
President & COO
Coinbase
Eseoghene Onomor
CEO
Roqqu
Ivan Soto-Wright
CEO / co-founder
MoonPay
Manuel Beaudroit
Co-founder & CEO
Belo
Liquidity & Markets
Kevin De Patoul
Co-founder & CEO
Keyrock
Prabhakar Reddy
Founder & CEO
OpenFX
Sam Broner
Co-founder
The Better Money Company
Investors & Capital Allocators
Chris Dixon
Founder / Managing Partner
a16z crypto
Diogo Mónica
General Partner
Haun Ventures
(co-founder, Anchorage)
Josh Rosenthal
General Partner
Polychain
Katie Haun
CEO
Haun Ventures
Matthew Homer
General Partner
The Venture Dept.
Matt Huang
Co-founder
Paradigm
Nic Carter
General Partner
Castle Island Ventures
Rob Hadick
General Partner
Dragonfly
Shan Aggarwal
Chief Business Officer
Coinbase
TradFi & Institutional Leaders
Cuy Sheffield
Head of Crypto
Visa
Dominic Maffei
CEO & Co-Founder
Anchorpoint
Jenny Johnson
President & CEO
Franklin Templeton
Larry Fink
Chairman & CEO
BlackRock
Michael Chan
CEO
Zand Bank
Michael Miebach
CEO
Mastercard
Michael Shaulov
CEO / co-founder
Fireblocks
Mike Belshe
CEO / co-founder
BitGo
Nathan McCauley
CEO / co-founder
Anchorage Digital
Raj Dhamodharan
EVP, Blockchain & Digital Assets
Mastercard
Tomohiko Kondo
Representative Director & President
SBI VC Trade / SBI digital assets
Vincent Chok
CEO
First Digital (FDUSD)
Yam Ki Chan
Managing Director
Circle
Payments & Infrastructure Builders
Bam Azizi
Co-founder & CEO
Mesh
Ben Milne
Founder & CEO
Brale
Benjamin Fernandes
Founder & CEO
NALA
Bernardo García
Co-founder
Félix Pago
Carlos Domingo
Co-founder & CEO
Securitize
Catherine Gu
Head of Product, Digital Assets
Solana Foundation
Clarisse Hagege
CEO
Dfns
Dan Mottice
Head of Stablecoins
Modern Treasury (fmr Beam)
Daniel Lev
CEO / co-founder
Coinflow
Daren Guo
Co-founder & CEO
Reap (acquired by Payward/Kraken)
David Marcus
Co-founder & CEO
Lightspark
Edward Woodford
CEO / founder
zerohash
Elizabeth Rossiello
Founder & CEO
AZA Finance
Eric Barbier
Founder & CEO
Triple-A
Ezra Kebrab
CEO / founder
Caliza
Farooq Malik
CEO / co-founder
Rain
Felix Macharia
CEO / co-founder
Kotani Pay
Henri Stern
Co-founder & CEO
Privy (a Stripe company)
Iana Dimitrova
CEO
OpenPayd
Itai Turbahn
VP Embedded Wallets
Fireblocks (co-founder, Dynamic)
Jess Houlgrave
CEO
WalletConnect
Jesse Hemson-Struthers
CEO / co-founder
BVNK
Kirill Gertman
CEO / founder
Conduit
Manuel Godoy
CEO / co-founder
Félix Pago
Max von Wallenberg
Co-founder & CEO
Iron (MoonPay)
May Zabaneh
SVP & GM, Crypto
PayPal (PYUSD)
Mike Ogbalu III
CEO
PAPSS
Mo Ali Yusuf
CEO / co-founder
Fuze
Mouloukou Sanoh
CEO / co-founder
Mansa
Patrick Collison
CEO / co-founder
Stripe
Raj Parekh
Head of Payments & Stablecoins
Monad Foundation
Rita Liu
CEO
RD Technologies
(OristaPay)
Sebastian Serrano
CEO / co-founder
Ripio
Tianwei Liu
CEO / co-founder
StraitsX
Tony McLaughlin
Founder & CEO
Ubyx
DeFi Protocols & Onchain Finance
Paul Frambot
Founder
Morpho Labs
Compliance & Analytics
James Smith
Founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Elliptic
Jon Ma
CEO
Artemis
Pelle Braendgaard
Founder & CEO
Notabene
Tarun Chitra
Co-founder & CEO
Gauntlet
Policymakers, Regulators & Politicians
Angela Alsobrooks
US Senator (D-MD)
Bill Hagerty
US Senator (R-TN),
lead GENIUS Act sponsor
Christine Lagarde
President, ECB / Chair
ESRB
Cynthia Lummis
US Senator (R-WY)
David Geale
Executive Director,
Payments & Digital Finance
FCA
Elizabeth Warren
US Senator (D-MA)
Emomotimi Agama
Director-General
SEC Nigeria
Gabriel Galipolo
Governor
Central Bank of Brazil
Hester Peirce
Commissioner
US SEC
Jonathan Gould
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Kirsten Gillibrand
US Senator (D-NY)
Maria Luís Albuquerque
European Commissioner for Financial Services
Marwan Alzarouni
CEO
Dubai Blockchain Center;
AI CEO, Dubai DET
Olayemi Cardoso
Governor
Central Bank of Nigeria
Paul Atkins
Chair
US SEC
Piero Cipollone
Executive Board Member
ECB
Sarah Breeden
Deputy Governor
(Financial Stability)
Bank of England
Sasha Mills
Executive Director
FMI, Bank of England
Sopnendu Mohanty
Group CEO
GFTN (former MAS Chief FinTech Officer)
Tim Scott
US Senator
Banking Committee
Travis Hill
Chairman
FDIC
Verena Ross
Chair
ESMA
Researchers, Standards & Ecosystem Voices
Amanda Tuminelli
Executive Director & CLO
DeFi Education Fund
Austin Campbell
Founder
Zero Knowledge Consulting
Adjunct, NYU Stern
Ayo Omojola
Founder
A Very Stable Conference
Beth Haddock
Global Policy Lead
Stablecoin Standard
Director
GMO-Z.com Trust
Brenton Naicker
Principal and Head of Growth
(Middle East & Africa)
CV VC
Chiara Munaretto
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Stablecoin Insider
Christian Catalini
Co-founder
Lightspark, MIT
Chuk Okpalugo
Founder
Stablecoin Blueprint
Cody Carbone
CEO
The Digital Chamber
Dante Disparte
Chief Strategy Officer &
Head of Global Policy
Circle
Denelle Dixon
CEO
Stellar Development Foundation
Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta
Chairman
Middle East Stablecoin Association
Jonas Gross
Chair
Digital Euro Association
Jai Massari
Of Counsel, Arktouros
Co-founder, Lightspark
Ji Hun Kim
CEO
Crypto Council for Innovation
Kristin Smith
President
Solana Policy Institute
Nic Carter
General Partner
Castle Island Ventures (also media/research)
Patrick Hansen
Senior Director
EU Strategy & Policy
Circle
Rahul Advani
Policy Director APAC
Ripple / Chair, BAS Stablecoin & CBDC Subcommittee
Serena Sebastiani
Group Chief Strategy & Venture Officer, Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs
Fuze
Simon Taylor
Market Development
Tempo
Founder
Fintech Brainfood
Summer Mersinger
CEO
Blockchain Association
Rising Influencers to watch by region
North America
Anna Yuan
Founder & CEO
Perena
Arnold Lee
CEO
Sphere Labs
Bernardo García
Co-founder
Félix Pago
Catherine Gu
Head of Digital Assets product
Solana Foundation
Hugo Finkelstein
Co-founder & CEO
Rise
Jack Chong
CEO
Checker
Kevin Lehtiniitty
CEO
Borderless.xyz
Mohammad Raafi Hossain
CEO & co-founder
Fasset
Nassim Eddequiouaq
CEO
Bastion
Nikhil Srinivasan
CEO
Infinite
Oneal Bhambani
CEO
Flyra
Rodri Fernández Touza
CEO
Crossmint
Ryan Bozarth
Co-founder & CEO
Dakota
Ryne Saxe
CEO
Eco
Sam Broner
Co-founder
The Better Money Company
Sinclair Toffa
CEO
Mural Pay
Zach Walsh
Co-founder & CEO
HIFI
Europe
Irina Chuchkina
Wallet in Telegram
Mike Hudack
CEO
Morse (formerly Sling Money)
Middle East
Bentzi Rabi
CEO
Utila
Erez Rachamim
CEO
Stables
Mouloukou Sanoh
Co-founder & CEO
MANSA
Latin America
Agustín Liserra
CEO
Num Finance
Bernardo Brites
CEO
Trace Finance
Federico Ogue
CEO
Buenbit by Nexo
Gaston Irigoyen
Co-founder & CEO
Pomelo
Leandro Noel
Co-founder & COO
Avenia
Marcelo Cavazzoli
CEO
Lemon Cash
Marcos Viriato
CEO
Parfin
Africa
Adedeji Owonibi
Founder
Convexity/WCBDC (cNGN)
Benjy Feinberg
Cedar Money
Christian Duffus
CEO
Fonbnk
Eseoghene Onomor
CEO
Roqqu
Felix Macharia
CEO & co-founder
Kotani Pay
Ife Johnson
CEO
Juicyway
Morgan Williams
Co-founder & COO
Blockradar
Asia/Pacific
Edul Patel
Co-founder & CEO
Saber Money
Milind Sanghavi
Co-founder & CEO
Xweave
Parth Garg
Founder & CEO
Aspora
Raj Kamal
CEO
TransFi
Rita Liu
CEO
RD Technologies
Zack Yang
Co-founder
FOMO Pay
Top Women in Stablecoins
Issuer & Protocol Leaders
Caitlin Long
Founder & CEO
Custodia Bank (Avit)
Monica Long
President
Ripple
Exchanges, On/Off-Ramps & Consumer Access
Caroline Pham
Head of MoonPay Institutional
and CLO, MoonPay
Former Acting Chair, CFTC
Emilie Choi
President & COO
Coinbase
Ola Doudin
Co-Founder & CEO
BitOasis
TradFi & Institutional Leaders
Jenny Johnson
President & CEO
Franklin Templeton
Researchers, Standards & Ecosystem Voices
Amanda Tuminelli
Executive Director & CLO
DeFi Education Fund
Beth Haddock
Global Policy Lead
Stablecoin Standard
Director, GMO-Z.com Trust
Chiara Munaretto
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Stablecoin Insider
Denelle Dixon
CEO
Stellar Development Foundation
Jai Massari
Of Counsel, Arktouros
Co-founder, Lightspark
Kristin Smith
President
Solana Policy Institute
Marta Belcher
President
Blockchain Association Board
President, Filecoin Foundation
Serena Sebastiani
Group Chief Strategy & Venture Officer, Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs
Fuze
Summer Mersinger
CEO
Blockchain Association
Payments & Infrastructure Builders
Clarisse Hagege
CEO
Dfns
Elizabeth Rossiello
Founder & CEO
AZA Finance
Iana Dimitrova
CEO
OpenPayd
Jess Houlgrave
CEO
WalletConnect
Lindsey Lim
EVP of Banking
Sphere Labs
May Zabaneh
SVP & GM, Crypto
PayPal (PYUSD)
Rita Liu
CEO
RD Technologies
(OristaPay)
Investors & Capital Allocators
Katie Haun
CEO
Haun Ventures
Policymakers, Regulators & Politicians
Angela Alsobrooks
US Senator (D-MD)
Christine Lagarde
President, ECB / Chair
ESRB
Cynthia Lummis
US Senator (R-WY)
Elizabeth Warren
US Senator (D-MA)
Hester Peirce
Commissioner
US SEC
Kirsten Gillibrand
US Senator (D-NY)
Maria Luis Albuquerque
European Commissioner for Financial Services
Sarah Breeden
Deputy Governor
Bank of England
Sasha Mills
Executive Director, FMI
Bank of England
Verena Ross
Chair
ESMA