Most Influential 2021: Ray Youssef

Peer-to-peer bitcoin trading is a powerful force.

(Adam B. Levine/Pixelmind.ai)
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Few people expected the Nigerian crypto economy to explode after the country’s central bank and financial regulators banned crypto trading. But it has, and it’s now the eighth-largest crypto market in the world, according to Chainalysis. It continues to grow thanks primarily to peer-to-peer exchanges like Paxful that allow bitcoin to flow easily without touching the banking system. Ray Youssef, the founder and CEO of Paxful, has already taken the exchange global and has worked this year to integrate new features – like Bitcoin’s Lightning network.

The Complete List: CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2021.

(Kevin Ross/CoinDesk)
ER June 2026 Image

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.

Why it matters:

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.