The Digital Currency Council (DCC) has made quite a name for itself in 2014, charting the adoption of Bitcoin throughout Western Civilization. The DCC also provides testing for Bitcoin practitioners, and a place for accountants, lawyers and other legal professionals to get the latest training and accreditation in Bitcoin in order to educate the populace.
Now they are adding a Bitcoin rating system to Bitcoin’s international social strata for 2015 with the Top 30 Bitcoin Influencers in Social Media.
Bitcoin adoption continued to grow in 2014, with near 1000 new merchants joining the Bitcoin ecosystem weekly. The number of transactions conducted daily reached an all time high. And venture capital investment reached over $300 million. Yet the majority of the world is still not familiar with Bitcoin, let alone utilizing and enjoying the benefits of it.
The 30 most influential people in Bitcoin on social media are leading the charge in changing this fact. The Digital Currnecy Council has compiled a list of the most influential Bitcoiners on social media. The top 30 were then identified using measures like the amount of Twitter followers, their Klout Score, and their social Peer Index. These data points reflect a variety of factors including social footprint, engagement frequency, amplification, and citations by influential writers along with other related items. Each factor was then given a rating to derive a final data driven list of the 30 most influential Bitcoiners on social media though the end of 2014.
I spoke with Digital Currency Council CEO David Berger about the study, and what he hopes to accomplish with it.
“Our study was driven by the data – Twitter followers, Klout Scores, and Peer Indexes – and yielded some obvious and some surprising results. The Bitcoin community is going through a maturation process, which many of these influencers have been driving. And it will further mature, as more articulate leaders emerge, over time, and grow their social media followers and influence. Sharing the facts (about Bitcoin) in a clear, insightful, and engaging manner is the best way to build (social) influence.”
Also Read: Survey Reports British Residents Aware of Bitcoin, but Not Embracing It Yet
There is one important thing to understand also when evaluating this list of Bitcoin social influencers. This does not factor in major Bitcoin community communication avenues, such as BitcoinTalk, ZapChain, or Reddit. This study was used by DCC to focus specifically on metrics measuring influence outside the Bitcoin community. The goal is to find those movers and shakers who are helping to grow the Bitcoin brand towards the broader mainstream, not preaching to the converted.
Those listed provide consistent, clear, and factual communication to individuals who are not yet familiar with the technology. Here you will find leading investors, entrepreneurs, cryptographers, journalists, and other professionals. These individuals exert significant influence within the Bitcoin community as well, but are now being recognized for their influence on social media outside the community, leading to increased adoption in the mainstream. They spend considerable time educating people outside of the Bitcoin community, and are consistently looking to expand Bitcoin’s sphere of influence.
Here is the list effective of the Top 30 Bitcoin Influencers, effective January 1st, 2015:
Images supplied by DCC.