《财富》为什么制定“全球40位40岁以下的区块链精英”榜单

在帮忙编撰《财富》杂志的年度旗舰榜单“全球40位40岁以下商界精英”（40 Under 40）时，我们遭遇了一个困境。在不断扩张的巨大的数字货币市场，哪些远见卓识者和大师值得进入我们的名人堂？我们心中有许多候选人。

Coinbase的首席执行官及联合创始人布莱恩·阿姆斯特朗和以太坊（Ethereum）的创始人维塔利克·布特林当仁不让。他们都登上了去年的“全球40位40岁以下商界精英”榜单，如今也仍然是金融技术领域里最为耀眼的两大明星。不过他们太年轻了，布特林才24岁，这是否意味着他们在40岁之前都能保证席位呢——等布特林40岁时，都已经2034年了。这些少年老成的程序员是否会挤占其他人登上舞台为人所知的机会？

于是我们萌生了一个想法：扩大榜单怎么样？《财富》杂志之前从未这么做过。不过此次，这个决定不言而喻。迅速发展的加密和金融技术世界让这个副产品显得水到渠成。于是“全球40位40岁以下的区块链精英”（Ledger 40 Under 40）榜单就诞生了。

五位在“全球40位40岁以下商界精英”的上榜者进入了这份副榜单，这体现了该行业的影响力。除了阿姆斯特朗（第1名）和布特林（第2名）之外，还有Stripe的克里申兄弟（第4名）；Robinhood的联合首席执行官及联合创始人维拉德·特内夫和拜朱·巴哈特（第5名）；以及Telegram的帕沃·杜罗夫（第10名）。此外，还有一些新鲜面孔配得上这份榜单：比特大陆的吴忌寒（第3名）、高盛集团（Goldman Sachs）的拉娜·雅利德（第6名）、Gemini公司的文克勒沃斯兄弟（第8名）、Circle的瑞秋·梅耶尔（第16名）等等。这些先驱都在推动着金融和技术边界的扩张。他们所有人都值得嘉许。

确实，我们确信自己正在见证某些特别事物的诞生。我们上一次在这么短的时间内看到如此多技术天赋和毅力的涌现，还是在Web 2.0的前夕。它带来了Facebook、YouTube、Uber、爱彼迎（Airbnb）和Snapchat等公司。（这些公司的高管仍然统治着我们的“全球40位40岁以下商界精英”主榜单。）下一次网络迭代的迅速接近——一些预言者将其称为Web 3.0——昭示着一个新的时代，届时，人们可以在网络的任何地方无缝交换价值。这一进程本身就值得关注。

所以，我们邀请您仔细看看这份榜单选出的、正在缔造全球金融未来的那些呼风唤雨的年轻人。瞧瞧他们，你会受到鼓舞。我们骄傲地指出，上榜的女性共有15位，比例达到38%。当然，我们肯定还有一些人的成就尚未被我们发现。如果您认为有任何值得被我们关注的人，请把他们的名字发给我们，我们将在明年予以考虑。如今我们已经在这方面展开了一些富有成效的对话。

哦，如果您今年还不到40岁，记住：您还有时间登上这份榜单。亲爱的读者，不如现在开始思考那些能够改变世界的想法吧。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正 

While helping to compile Fortune’s annual, flagship 40 Under 40 list, we wrestled with a quandary. In the vast, ever-expanding universe of digitized money, which visionaries and virtuosos deserved installment on our glossy walk of fame? We had many candidates in mind.

The obvious: Brain Armstrong, CEO and cofounder of Coinbase, and Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum, have both appeared on the 40 Under 40 list in years past. They remain two of the brightest stars in the fin-tech firmament. But because they are so young—Buterin is 24 years old—does this mean they will inhabit guaranteed slots until their quadragenarian birthdays—in Buterin’s case, in 2034? Does the youth of these precocious programmers effectively exclude others from recognition?

The germ of an idea sprouted: What if we created an extension of the franchise? Fortune has never done so before. But in this case, the decision was self-evident. The burgeoning crypto-cum-fintech world justified a spinoff. The Ledger 40 Under 40 list was born.

Demonstrating the industry’s influence, five laureates on the main list intersect the offshoot. In addition to Armstrong (No. 1) and Buterin (No. 2), there are the Collison brothers of Stripe (No. 4); Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt (No. 5), dual CEOs and cofounders of Robinhood; and Pavel Durov of Telegram (No. 10). Beyond them, a host of new, worthy faces: Jihan Wu of Bitmain (No. 3), Rana Yared of Goldman Sachs (No. 6), the Winklevoss twins of Gemini (No. 8), Rachel Mayer of Circle (No. 16), and more. All of these pioneers are pushing boundaries at the bleeding edge of finance and technology. All of them warrant acclaim.

Indeed, we’re convinced that we’re witnessing the birth of something special. The last time we observed such an explosion of technical talent and tenacity in so short a span of time, we stood at the dawn of Web 2.0, which brought on businesses such as Facebook, YouTube, Uber, Airbnb, and Snapchat. (These companies’ execs continue to dominate our headline 40 Under 40 list.) The fast approach of the Web’s next iteration—Web 3.0, as some prognosticators have called it—signals a new era, one wherein a seamless interchange of value is woven into the very fabric of the network. This movement merits a spotlight all its own.

And so we invite you to peruse The Ledger’s selection of young movers and shakers building the world’s financial future. Take a gander; be inspired. We’re proud to note the honor roll features 15 women—about 38% of the total. Of course, we’re sure there are individuals whose work escaped our attention. If you spot any candidates who should be on our radar, please send their names our way and we’ll consider them for next year. We’ve already begun having productive conversations toward that end.

Oh, and if you’ll be under 40 in a year, remember: There’s time yet to make the list. Better get cracking on that world-changing idea of yours, dear reader.