Forbes 30 under 30 spotlights minds shaping crypto’s hype

The 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list includes young crypto founders who are creating platforms for financial, trading and prediction markets despite regulatory challenges.

Forbes has unveiled its latest “30 Under 30” list for finance, revealing the next generation of innovators in the fintech and crypto space. The honorees include blockchain entrepreneurs who have navigated both successes and regulatory challenges while reshaping financial markets. Crypto.news retells their journey.

Shayne Coplan: Betting big on crypto

At just 26 years old, Shayne Coplan is the mastermind behind Polymarket, a blockchain-based prediction marketplace that has processed billions of dollars in transactions this year alone, according to Dune Analytics data. The platform allows users to bet on the outcomes of real-world events such as elections, sports games, and even extreme scenarios such as a nuclear weapon explosion.

However, Polymarket did not achieve instant recognition or success. Launched in 2020, it took four years and tens of millions in funding from backers like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin to gain recognition for the platform.

The turning point came during the 2024 US presidential election, when prediction markets were pointing to a surprising victory for Donald Trump.

However, Polymarket could not escape the controversy. Following allegations that the platform allowed US users to place illegal bets, the FBI raided Coplan’s home just days after the election and reportedly seized devices. This comes despite Polymarket’s 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; where it paid a $1.4 million fine and agreed to block US users from using its platform.

According to Forbes, a Polymarket spokesperson hinted that the raid may have been politically motivated, although no charges have been filed to date. Despite the scrutiny, Polymarket remains a pioneer in crowd-driven predictions and demonstrates the untapped potential of blockchain in creating decentralized markets.

Cindy Leow: The center of perpetual trade

Cindy Leow, 27, is another rising star in crypto and transformed markets in 2021 when she founded Drift, a Solana-based crypto exchange specializing in perpetual assets, which are derivatives that allow investors to speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset.

Backed by investors such as Polychain Capital and Multicoin Capital and enabling billions of dollars in transaction volume, Leow raised $42 million in funding for Drift and turned it into serious crypto clout. According to Forbes’ report, Drift generated $40 million in revenue this year and increased its user base to over 200,000.

Before Drift, Leow co-founded a $30 million quantitative hedge fund and worked at Softbank Ventures Korea, the early-stage venture capital arm of SoftBank Group. Despite its ambitious goals, the Solana-backed crypto exchange operates in a highly competitive market and faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny and challenges related to derivatives trading.

Kaledora Kiernan-Linn: From ballet to blockchain

Kaledora Kiernan-Linn, 28, has shifted her focus to new ventures. Following a career as a professional ballet dancer, she graduated from Harvard with a neuroscience degree and co-founded Ostium Labs, the team behind the Ostium protocol, the first decentralized perpetual exchanges designed specifically for real-world assets.

Along with co-founder Marco Ribiero, Kiernan-Linn aims to integrate the transparency of blockchain with traditional commodity trading and financial indices.

The ultimate goal: bridging decentralized technology and global finance. The startup, which is still in its early stages, has raised $3.5 million in funding from investors such as General Catalyst, LocalGlobe, SIG and Balaji Srinivasan, among others.

bigger picture

Rising stars show how cryptocurrency is becoming more than just a speculative investment. Platforms such as Polymarket and Drift show that blockchain technology has now reached a point where it can seriously change markets and help manage risks. At the same time, Ostium Labs is showing how blockchain can transform industries such as commodities and global finance.

But these innovations did not come without challenges. Entrepreneurs on the Forbes list face a world full of risks, from legal issues to technical difficulties. Polymarket’s legal troubles, for example, highlight the difficult balance between pushing new ideas and following regulations, while Drift’s focus on derivatives is attracting a lot of attention in a market still figuring out its rules.

The road ahead

The future won’t be easy as these young innovators push the boundaries. The successes of Coplan, Leow and Kiernan-Linn clearly demonstrate the potential of crypto to change the financial world. But their story is also a reminder that the web3 industry is still in its early stages, especially when it comes to having clear rules and regulations.

Forbes says the winners were selected from more than 600 nominations and judged by four experts: Chris Britt, co-founder and CEO of neobank Chime; Marc Lasry, co-founder and CEO of Avenue Capital Group; Laura Spiekerman, co-founder of Alloy; and Nikil Viswanathan, co-founder of Alchemy, a blockchain infrastructure firm.