The two Bitwise executives have worked tirelessly to get crypto exchange-traded funds approved by the SEC, and this year they finally succeeded.

Dec 10, 2024, 3:29 p.m. UTC

The relentless efforts by Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley and chief investment officer Matt Hougan’s to bring institutional money into crypto for the past seven years finally paid off when spot ETFs for both bitcoin and ether were approved by the SEC earlier this year. The digital asset manager launched funds for both, taking its assets under management to north of $10 billion, and a third ETF for Solana may be in the offing soon as well.

But their efforts in the crypto space go much further than that, as the two regularly share insights with their sizable social media followings about their work, pushing the narrative that large banks, multi-family offices and other highly relevant institutional investors are “working to open up access to Bitcoin.”

When it came to which U.S. presidential candidate they thought would be better for crypto, Horsley and Hougan continued to stay laser-focused on crypto, saying that the industry would win no matter who took office in January. Following Trump’s victory, however, Hougan declared that we are now entering the “Golden Age of Crypto.”

This profile is part of CoinDesk's Most Influential 2024 package. For all of this year's nominees, click here.