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Crypto influencers to brief before a token launch: 5 steps

By NAUT Research · · 11 min read

301 Crypto influencers influencer rows with a follower count on NAUT, and the 45 that open on a person page. Logos: Vitalik Buterin (vitalik.eth), H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨, Mario Nawfal, Marc Andreessen, Paul Graham, Balaji Srinivasan, Alex Becker, Brad Garlinghouse, hayden.eth, ZachXBT.

Crypto influencers to brief before a token launch, in short: NAUT tracks 398 influencer rows, 301 of them carrying a follower count, and 45 of those 301 open on a NAUT person page you can read and reach from. The practical shortlist starts in that pool of 45, sorted into reach bands, because the other 256 followered rows have no linked person page on NAUT at all.

Data note. Every count here was read from NAUT's own database on 5 November 2026, read-only. The follower figures NAUT stores were all captured in a single snapshot on 30 May 2026, so they are that day's numbers and not today's. 10 of the 15 rows in the table below had their X profile read again on 5 November 2026, 1 read each, and the live count differed from NAUT's stored figure in all 10. 378 of the 398 rows carry a stored data source and 19 carry none, so provenance is uneven across the set. NAUT Research wrote it, and the places where NAUT's own record loses to the live profile are printed rather than tidied away.

How do you shortlist crypto influencers to brief before a token launch?

Work down from reach to reachability, in that order, because a name you cannot open is a name you cannot brief.

  • Reach works as a band. NAUT's followered rows split 25 above 1,000,000 followers, 27 between 500,000 and 1,000,000, 98 between 100,000 and 500,000, 105 between 10,000 and 100,000 and 46 below 10,000.
  • Reachability cuts the pool hard. 45 of the 301 followered rows link to a live NAUT person page, which is 15% of them, and 256 do not.
  • A follower count is a dated reading. NAUT's stored figures are a 30 May 2026 snapshot, and all 10 rows re-read on 5 November 2026 had moved.
  • Relevance is a judgement per name. NAUT's influencer records carry no separate field marking a row as a paid promotion voice, so the fit of each name to a launch brief is read from what that person does.
  • 1 channel, 1 note, 1 person. Each NAUT person page says which of Telegram, email and LinkedIn NAUT holds for that name.
The 5-step screen before a launch brief
  1. Set the reach band25 of NAUT's 301 followered rows sit above 1,000,000 followers and 98 sit between 100,000 and 500,000.
  2. Cut to the pool you can open45 of those 301 rows link to a live NAUT person page and 256 do not.
  3. Read what the voice doesZachXBT investigates hacks and thefts, so that page belongs on a security list.
  4. Re-read the countAll 10 of the 15 tabled rows read again on 5 November 2026 differed from NAUT's 30 May figure.
  5. Brief on a channel they answerEach NAUT person page names which of Telegram, email and LinkedIn NAUT holds.

Step 1: set the reach band before you pick names

Decide what a win looks like before you open a single profile. A listing announcement that needs 1 post in front of 2,000,000 timelines is a different brief from a technical explainer aimed at 40,000 builders, and the 2 briefs land with different people.

NAUT's bands make that choice concrete. The 10,000 to 100,000 band is the largest at 105 rows and the 100,000 to 500,000 band is second at 98, so a mid-reach plan has the deepest bench to pick from, while the 1,000,000-plus band holds 25 rows in total.

Step 2: cut to the names you can actually open

45 of the 301 followered rows link to a live NAUT person page. Those 45 are the rows where a shortlist can go from a handle to a role, a company and the channels NAUT holds, all on 1 page.

The other 256 are reach with no profile behind them on NAUT. That side of the set includes news accounts and on-chain alert feeds alongside individual commentators, which is worth knowing before you plan around a follower total alone.

Step 3: read what each voice actually does

Reach says how many people see a post. It says nothing about whether that audience came for launch coverage, technical writing or fraud investigations.

Read the role on the page. ZachXBT is on file as an advisor at Paradigm and that X bio describes an investigator turned advisor, so a security review is the fit there and a launch brief is a mismatch. Vitalik Buterin (vitalik.eth), hayden.eth and Charlie Lee are protocol builders whose posts carry weight on design questions. Mario Nawfal and Alex Becker are market-facing voices who talk to traders.

Step 4: re-read the follower count on the day you brief

NAUT's follower figures are a 30 May 2026 snapshot, captured for all 301 rows on 1 day. 10 of the 15 rows in the table were read again on their X profile on 5 November 2026 and every 1 of the 10 came back with a different number: 8 higher than NAUT's stored figure and 2 lower by under 2%.

So treat a stored count as an indication of scale. If a media plan or a payment is priced off a follower number, read the profile on the day you sign.

Step 5: brief on the channel the person answers

A launch brief that lands in a shared inbox reaches nobody in particular. Each NAUT person page names the channels NAUT holds for that name, so you can pick 1 and send 1 note.

Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so a shortlist built in a browser can be worked the same day at naut.so.

Who are the crypto influencers to brief before a token launch with the most reach?

These are the 15 highest-follower influencer rows on NAUT that open on a live person page, ranked by the follower count NAUT stores from its 30 May 2026 snapshot. The live column holds 1 read of that profile on 5 November 2026 for the 10 rows research read, and says Not checked for the 5 it did not.

Name On NAUT Live read Role
6,629,470 7,930,857 Co-Founder at
4,040,353 4,305,351 Founder at
3,539,983 3,978,334 Founding Director at
3,233,744 6,629,326 Co-Founder at
2,961,135 5,400,774 Co-Founder at
1,575,202 2,266,943 Founder and CEO
1,345,620 1,325,809 No role text on file
1,305,484 1,302,931 CEO at
1,050,779 2,352,474 Founder and CEO at
1,033,244 1,116,257 Advisor at
1,020,290 Not checked Creator and Director at
917,924 Not checked General Partner at
905,743 Not checked Advisor at
844,411 Not checked CEO at
803,195 Not checked Founder and CEO at

The X handles for those 15 rows, in the same order, are @VitalikButerin, @justinsuntron, @MarioNawfal, @pmarca, @paulg, @balajis, @ZssBecker, @bgarlinghouse, @haydenzadams, @zachxbt, @SatoshiLite, @cdixon, @beeple, @garrytan and @BarrySilbert.

Anyone listed can ask NAUT to remove their page at https://naut.so/legal/data-deletion.

Followers on NAUT's record, 30 May 2026 snapshot, the 15 routed reach leaders
  1. Vitalik Buterin (vitalik.eth)6629470
  2. H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨4040353
  3. Mario Nawfal3539983
  4. Marc Andreessen3233744
  5. Paul Graham2961135
  6. Balaji Srinivasan1575202
  7. Alex Becker1345620
  8. Brad Garlinghouse1305484
  9. hayden.eth1050779
  10. ZachXBT1033244
  11. Charlie Lee1020290
  12. cdixon.eth917924
  13. beeple905743
  14. Garry Tan844411
  15. Barry Silbert803195

The top row carries about 8 times the followers of the bottom row of these 15, which is why a flat list of big accounts is a weak brief and a banded one is workable.

How many crypto influencers sit in each reach band?

NAUT's 301 followered rows split into 5 bands, ordered here from the largest follower counts down. The band sizes are NAUT's full followered set, not only the 45 rows that open on a person page.

Reach band Rows Share Best for
Above 1,000,000 25 8% Launch-day awareness, highest cost, slowest reply
500,000 to 1,000,000 27 9% Launch-week reach with some topic focus
100,000 to 500,000 98 33% Second-deepest bench, best for a 2-week drumbeat
10,000 to 100,000 105 35% The deepest bench, topic-specific, highest reply rate
Below 10,000 46 15% Early community seeding and technical review

The 2 middle bands hold 203 of the 301 rows between them, so most of what NAUT tracks is working reach rather than headline reach.

What a reach-only crypto influencer list misses

4 gaps are worth writing into your own plan before the brief goes out.

  • Route coverage. 45 of the 301 followered rows open on a NAUT person page, so 256 rows are a handle and a number with no profile behind them on NAUT.
  • Freshness. All 301 follower counts were captured on 30 May 2026 in 1 pass, so every figure is that day's reading.
  • Direction of drift. 8 of the 10 rows read on 5 November 2026 were above NAUT's stored figure and 2 were below it by under 2%, so a stale count can understate or overstate a name.
  • Provenance. 19 of the 398 rows carry no stored data source, against 378 that do.

None of those 4 stops a shortlist. They set how you word the brief: cite a band, name the date you read the count, and price off a reading taken the day you commit.

What this means for token launch marketing

  • Pick the band that matches the job, then the names. 105 rows sit in the 10,000 to 100,000 band, which is where a technical explainer finds its audience.
  • Start a shortlist in the 45 routed rows, because those pages carry a role, a company and the channels NAUT holds.
  • Read the role before you write the brief. A protocol builder, a market commentator and an on-chain investigator each need a different note, and 1 of the 3 should not get a launch brief at all.
  • Price off a count you read yourself. All 10 of the counts re-read on 5 November 2026 differed from the stored figure.
  • Build the list once and keep it. NAUT's unlocks are permanent, so a shortlist worked for 1 launch is still reachable at the next one.

Related reading on NAUT: What is a TGE: 22 token launches and the $11.56B behind them and Crypto media outlets list: 52 publications, 35 named contacts.

Can you pull this data through the NAUT API?

Yes. The call that returns this article's rows is GET https://api.naut.so/v1/people?q=vitalik&limit=30 with the header Authorization: Bearer $NAUT_KEY, and swapping q for another name, handle or title walks the rest of the shortlist; each data or search call costs 5 credits, and a single profile with its coworkers comes back from GET https://api.naut.so/v1/people/{id}. Revealing that person's private channels with GET https://api.naut.so/v1/people/{id}?include=private costs 10 credits the first time and 5 after that, a permanent unlock, and person records carry jobTitle, twitterHandle, company and the flags hasEmail, hasPhone, hasTelegram and hasLinkedin. Keys are minted by a human and the plans run from Essential at $49 a month for 3,000 credits: see the API docs and pricing. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so you can start a 7-day trial and brief the shortlist the same week.

Crypto influencers to brief before a token launch FAQ

How many crypto influencers does NAUT track?

NAUT tracks 398 influencer rows as read on 5 November 2026, of which 397 are live and 301 carry a follower count captured in a 30 May 2026 snapshot. 45 of those 301 link to a live NAUT person page.

Which crypto influencers have the most followers on NAUT?

Of the 45 followered influencer rows that open on a NAUT person page, the largest on NAUT's 30 May 2026 snapshot are Vitalik Buterin (vitalik.eth) at 6,629,470 followers, H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 at 4,040,353 and Mario Nawfal at 3,539,983.

How fresh are NAUT's follower counts?

All 301 counts come from 1 snapshot taken on 30 May 2026. 10 of the 15 rows in this article had their profile read again on 5 November 2026 and all 10 had moved, 8 up and 2 down by under 2%, so read the live profile before you price a brief.

Where can I find these crypto influencers and their contact channels?

NAUT holds all 15 of the people in this article on their own person pages, each naming the channels NAUT has on file, and GET https://api.naut.so/v1/people?q=<name> returns the same rows for 5 credits a call. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so start a 7-day trial to reach them.

Should every large account get a launch brief?

No. Reach alone puts names like ZachXBT on a list where a launch brief is the wrong note, because that page and that X bio describe investigation work rather than coverage of new tokens.

Sources

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