A new study has confirmed what cryptocurrency markets have known for months but struggled to quantify: no individual on earth moves the digital asset world more than United States President Donald Trump, not Elon Musk, not Michael Saylor, and not the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The February 2026 research, published by online trading platform Taurex, tracked how often public figures appeared in cryptocurrency media covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and digital asset regulation, then cross-referenced media reach with personal crypto holdings, estimated net worth, and institutional role to rank the most influential personalities in the industry.
Trump topped the list with nearly 490,000 mentions across crypto media outlets, a figure that dwarfs every other name on the table and reflects the unique position of a sitting US president whose personal financial interests are directly entangled with the industry he simultaneously regulates. The Trump family now controls four distinct cryptocurrency ventures spanning Bitcoin mining through American Bitcoin, financial services through World Liberty Financial (WLF), a stablecoin known as USD1, and Trump Media’s crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings.
Elon Musk placed second with 111,000 mentions. MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who has accumulated 17,700 Bitcoin personally while his company holds 650,000 BTC, ranked third with 77,000 mentions. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, despite owning no cryptocurrency, generated 61,000 mentions, a figure that reflects how dramatically interest rate decisions and monetary policy comments move Bitcoin prices. Eric Trump ranked fifth with 59,000 mentions through his leadership of American Bitcoin, a Hut 8 subsidiary where he holds a 20 percent stake. Donald Trump Jr. followed with 40,000 mentions.
David Sacks, the White House Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Crypto Czar who has divested his crypto holdings, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also divested, rounded out the top ten.
Conor, a senior market analyst from Taurex, identified the structural reason behind why individual influence operates differently in crypto than in traditional markets. “Most stock trading is done by big institutions that conduct careful research, but crypto is mostly handled by regular people who react quickly to what they hear,” he said. “When someone famous tweets about a coin or announces a new project, millions of everyday investors jump in to buy or sell right away.”
The study lands, however, at an uncomfortable moment for the man it crowns. Bitcoin, which surged from $70,000 at Trump’s election to over $125,000 in late 2025, has reversed sharply and is now trading below its election-night level, erasing all gains made since Trump’s victory and triggering unusual levels of anger within a community that had championed his candidacy. Reports that a wallet associated with the Trump family business sold significant amounts of crypto during the decline deepened the backlash, turning a president once hailed as crypto’s greatest ally into one of its most visible scapegoats within the community that elevated him.
Legislative achievements remain real. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for United States Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act), signed into law in July 2025, created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has passed the House. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Paul Atkins dropped enforcement actions against Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and others. But conflict-of-interest scrutiny continues to mount, with critics arguing that a president profiting from the same industry he deregulates represents a structural integrity problem with no historical precedent.
