In 2021, the Brazilian crypto market attracted more investors, entered the Brazilian stock market, launched the bubble into the mainstream and became an important part of the investment portfolio of ordinary Brazilians.
In addition to strengthening the crypto community in Brazil, initiatives by Brazilian blockchain companies have brought cryptocurrency to a wide range of sectors of society, from football – a major national passion – to civil aviation. Cointelegraph Brazil chose the country’s top 10 personalities in 2021, taking into account the performance of premium companies, their impact on the crypto community, and their market-leading spirit.
The above are just 10 significant individuals in a vast ecosystem that extends around the entire world. To see more installations highlighting the crypto and blockchain industries, check out Cointelegraph Top 100 2022.
10. Louis Adeyemi – Moss
Luis Adaime is the CEO and founder of MOSS, a Brazilian company dedicated to tokenizing carbon credits with the MCO2 token. Founded in 2020, MOSS has forged a number of partnerships in Brazil: the logo appeared on the Clube de Regatas Flamengo shirt for the 2021 Brazilian soccer season. Other related carbon offset partnerships have included major companies such as iFood, Hering and GOL Linhas Aéreas. MOSS has also issued non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the goal of preserving the Amazon rainforest. The MCO2 related group is dedicated to sustainable development projects in Brazil.
9. Edilson Osorio – OriginalMy
Edilson Osorio, a Harvard Law School graduate computer scientist, professor and information security specialist, was a blockchain and big data consultant at ITS-Rio and is a member of the European Blockchain Observatory. He is the CEO and founder of OriginalMy, a legal technology company with a blockchain-based platform to increase leadership trust through identity authentication, signatures, permissions, and content.
8. Thiago Cesar – Swiss transfer
Thiago Cesar is the CEO of Transfero Swiss, the issuer of the largest currency in the stack backed by the Brazilian Real (BRZ). In 2021 alone, the stablecoin recorded a trading volume of $1.5 billion, the highest level since the coin was launched in 2019. BRZ entered the world’s major exchanges and stood out for its multi-chain technology compatible with Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, and other networks. Transfero Swiss is also expected to launch crypto retail solutions in the country through the BRZ trading platform for a range of cryptocurrencies.
7. Fernando Carvalho – QR Capital
Fernando Carvalho is the CEO of QR Capital, which controls a stake in QR Asset, one of the leading crypto investment funds in Brazil. QR Capital has launched the country’s first DeFi-linked ETF on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, consisting of nine cryptocurrencies in Bloomberg’s Galaxy DeFi Index. QR Capital previously launched an ETF that includes Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which ranks among the most profitable investments in 2021 on the Brazilian stock exchange B3.
6. Primo Rico – Rico
Brazilian entrepreneur and famous YouTuber Thiago Nigro, better known as “Primo Rico,” has become a popular cryptocurrency fighter with educational videos on his YouTube channel and 5.5 million subscribers. His affinity for the cryptocurrency market was also in the news in 2021 when he revealed that he was a partner in the Brazilian exchange Biscoint through Rico Investimentos. Another Nigro initiative launched in 2021 is the digital bank Rico, which provides access to cryptocurrencies through two investment funds.
5. Fernando Ulrich – Liberta Investimentos
With global experience in the Brazilian real estate and finance market, Fernando Ulrich studies money theory and is a digital currency enthusiast. Ulrich has worked for many world-renowned companies such as Thyssenkrupp and XP Investimentos as a lead analyst on the XDEX cryptocurrency exchange. He currently works at Liberta Investimentos, an investment advisory firm associated with XP. Ulrich was the first prominent Brazilian economist to publicly support Bitcoin and often spoke out about Bitcoin and various cryptocurrencies on his YouTube channel and on Twitter.
Roberto Campos Neto – Banco Central de Brazil
Brazilian Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto has launched a digital innovation program through pioneering Pix, a financial institution’s fast-track transaction system that is quickly becoming popular among Brazilians. Campos Neto is also leading the Real Digital digital currency project for the country’s central bank, which is still in the analysis stage but could start its first attempts as early as 2023.
