在幫忙編撰《財富》雜志的年度旗艦榜單“全球40位40歲以下商界精英”（40 Under 40）時，我們遭遇了一個困境。在不斷擴張的巨大的數(shù)字貨幣市場，哪些遠見卓識者和大師值得進入我們的名人堂？我們心中有許多候選人。

Coinbase的首席執(zhí)行官及聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人布萊恩·阿姆斯特朗和以太坊（Ethereum）的創(chuàng)始人維塔利克·布特林當(dāng)仁不讓。他們都登上了去年的“全球40位40歲以下商界精英”榜單，如今也仍然是金融技術(shù)領(lǐng)域里最為耀眼的兩大明星。不過他們太年輕了，布特林才24歲，這是否意味著他們在40歲之前都能保證席位呢——等布特林40歲時，都已經(jīng)2034年了。這些少年老成的程序員是否會擠占其他人登上舞臺為人所知的機會？

于是我們萌生了一個想法：擴大榜單怎么樣？《財富》雜志之前從未這么做過。不過此次，這個決定不言而喻。迅速發(fā)展的加密和金融技術(shù)世界讓這個副產(chǎn)品顯得水到渠成。于是“全球40位40歲以下的區(qū)塊鏈精英”（Ledger 40 Under 40）榜單就誕生了。

五位在“全球40位40歲以下商界精英”的上榜者進入了這份副榜單，這體現(xiàn)了該行業(yè)的影響力。除了阿姆斯特朗（第1名）和布特林（第2名）之外，還有Stripe的克里申兄弟（第4名）；Robinhood的聯(lián)合首席執(zhí)行官及聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人維拉德·特內(nèi)夫和拜朱·巴哈特（第5名）；以及Telegram的帕沃·杜羅夫（第10名）。此外，還有一些新鮮面孔配得上這份榜單：比特大陸的吳忌寒（第3名）、高盛集團（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·梅耶爾（第16名）等等。這些先驅(qū)都在推動著金融和技術(shù)邊界的擴張。他們所有人都值得嘉許。

確實，我們確信自己正在見證某些特別事物的誕生。我們上一次在這么短的時間內(nèi)看到如此多技術(shù)天賦和毅力的涌現(xiàn)，還是在Web 2.0的前夕。它帶來了Facebook、YouTube、Uber、愛彼迎（Airbnb）和Snapchat等公司。（這些公司的高管仍然統(tǒng)治著我們的“全球40位40歲以下商界精英”主榜單。）下一次網(wǎng)絡(luò)迭代的迅速接近——一些預(yù)言者將其稱為Web 3.0——昭示著一個新的時代，屆時，人們可以在網(wǎng)絡(luò)的任何地方無縫交換價值。這一進程本身就值得關(guān)注。

所以，我們邀請您仔細看看這份榜單選出的、正在締造全球金融未來的那些呼風(fēng)喚雨的年輕人。瞧瞧他們，你會受到鼓舞。我們驕傲地指出，上榜的女性共有15位，比例達到38%。當(dāng)然，我們肯定還有一些人的成就尚未被我們發(fā)現(xiàn)。如果您認為有任何值得被我們關(guān)注的人，請把他們的名字發(fā)給我們，我們將在明年予以考慮。如今我們已經(jīng)在這方面展開了一些富有成效的對話。

哦，如果您今年還不到40歲，記住：您還有時間登上這份榜單。親愛的讀者，不如現(xiàn)在開始思考那些能夠改變世界的想法吧。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：嚴匡正?

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.