Which coin's founder is still at the helm?
I looked at 29 coins. Only 12 projects have their founder still sticking around without ever leaving. Listing them in order:
SOLD OR LEFT
$BTC: Satoshi wrote his last message in 2011
$DOGE: Founder sold it for car money in 2015
$LTC: Founder sold everything in 2017
$XRP: Co-founder sold his 9 billion XRP
$SHIB: Founder wiped his tracks and vanished in 2022
$XMR: Founder disappeared in 2014
$SUSHI: Founder pulled out $14M, gave it back, and left
$ZEC: Founder stepped down from management in 2023
$EOS: Founder left in 2021
$ATOM: Founder left and started a rival chain
GOT SUED
$FTT: Founder got 25 years, still inside
$LUNC: Founder got 15 years
$CEL: Founder got 12 years
$SAFEMOON: CEO got 8 years
$BNB: Founder did 4 months, got pardoned, didn't come back
bitcoin-cash:native: Most well-known name paid $49.9M to get out
LEFT, CAME BACK
$DOT: Founder left in 2022, came back in 2025
STILL AT THE HELM
$ETH: Vitalik Buterin
$SOL: Anatoly Yakovenko
$ADA: Charles Hoskinson
$AVAX: Emin Gün Sirer
$LINK: Sergey Nazarov
$TRX: Justin Sun
$AAVE: Stani Kulechov
$UNI: Hayden Adams
$NEAR: Illia Polosukhin
$HYPE: Jeff Yan
$CRV: Michael Egorov
$WLD: Sam Altman
Look, the founder leaving doesn't kill the coin. Bitcoin's founder has been gone for 15 years, Dogecoin's sold it for car money, and both are still among the biggest coins.
But here's what you need to know. In some coins, the founder already sold and bailed, and you're the one still holding it.
The founder staying doesn't save anything on its own, either. A few coins on the "Still at the helm" list are down more than 90% from their peak.
I know, when buying a coin, nobody looks at the founder—they look at the chart. But the first question you should ask is this: Is the guy who started this still here? Is his money still in it?
Which one on the list surprised you the most? Drop it in the comments.
Save this. Before buying a new coin, open it up and look up where the founder is today.
#btc #ETH $ETH $SOL $BTC
I looked at 29 coins. Only 12 projects have their founder still sticking around without ever leaving. Listing them in order:
SOLD OR LEFT
$BTC: Satoshi wrote his last message in 2011
$DOGE: Founder sold it for car money in 2015
$LTC: Founder sold everything in 2017
$XRP: Co-founder sold his 9 billion XRP
$SHIB: Founder wiped his tracks and vanished in 2022
$XMR: Founder disappeared in 2014
$SUSHI: Founder pulled out $14M, gave it back, and left
$ZEC: Founder stepped down from management in 2023
$EOS: Founder left in 2021
$ATOM: Founder left and started a rival chain
GOT SUED
$FTT: Founder got 25 years, still inside
$LUNC: Founder got 15 years
$CEL: Founder got 12 years
$SAFEMOON: CEO got 8 years
$BNB: Founder did 4 months, got pardoned, didn't come back
bitcoin-cash:native: Most well-known name paid $49.9M to get out
LEFT, CAME BACK
$DOT: Founder left in 2022, came back in 2025
STILL AT THE HELM
$ETH: Vitalik Buterin
$SOL: Anatoly Yakovenko
$ADA: Charles Hoskinson
$AVAX: Emin Gün Sirer
$LINK: Sergey Nazarov
$TRX: Justin Sun
$AAVE: Stani Kulechov
$UNI: Hayden Adams
$NEAR: Illia Polosukhin
$HYPE: Jeff Yan
$CRV: Michael Egorov
$WLD: Sam Altman
Look, the founder leaving doesn't kill the coin. Bitcoin's founder has been gone for 15 years, Dogecoin's sold it for car money, and both are still among the biggest coins.
But here's what you need to know. In some coins, the founder already sold and bailed, and you're the one still holding it.
The founder staying doesn't save anything on its own, either. A few coins on the "Still at the helm" list are down more than 90% from their peak.
I know, when buying a coin, nobody looks at the founder—they look at the chart. But the first question you should ask is this: Is the guy who started this still here? Is his money still in it?
Which one on the list surprised you the most? Drop it in the comments.
Save this. Before buying a new coin, open it up and look up where the founder is today.
#btc #ETH $ETH $SOL $BTC