Marketing loves celebrities — and with good reason. They're “celebrated” people, individuals invested with bulk quantities of cultural capital (i.e., public respect, goodwill and interest), which — if tapped correctly by marketing firms — can be reflected onto endorsed products. This is why they've already proven important for the cryptocurrency industry, which has enlisted the likes of Lionel Messi, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Steven Seagal for the purposes of drawing the public's attention toward initial coin offerings (ICOs) and new cryptocurrencies.
But while the above have simply been endorsements offered in return for what we can only presume were million-dollar fees, there are a number of other celebrities who support and have supported crypto more meaningfully. From Ashton Kutcher to Serena Williams (NYSE:WMB), these are individuals who have actually bought crypto or invested in crypto-related startups. So instead of merely allowing their names and faces to be associated with altcoin X or exchange Y, they've provided an even stronger backing of crypto by actually putting skin in the game.