Jed McCaleb

Jed McCaleb is an American programmer and entrepreneur who is best known as one of the co-founders of the Stellar blockchain platform. He was born on July 3, 1975, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in various places across the United States.

McCaleb became interested in computer programming at an early age and began creating websites and computer games as a teenager. After studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, he began working in the tech industry, first as a software developer and later as an entrepreneur.

In 2000, McCaleb created eDonkey2000, a file-sharing network that was popular in the early 2000s. He later founded the Ripple payment protocol in 2012, along with Chris Larsen. However, McCaleb left Ripple in 2013 due to disagreements over the direction of the company.

After leaving Ripple, McCaleb founded Stellar in 2014, along with Joyce Kim. The platform was created with the aim of facilitating fast and low-cost cross-border payments, with a particular focus on financial inclusion and social impact. McCaleb served as the CTO of the Stellar Development Foundation until he stepped down in 2019 to focus on other projects.

In addition to his work on Stellar, McCaleb has also been involved in other cryptocurrency and blockchain projects. He founded Mt. Gox, a cryptocurrency exchange that was one of the largest in the world before it was hacked in 2014. He later founded Ripple competitor Stellar, as well as the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero.

McCaleb is known for his innovative approach to blockchain technology and his focus on creating platforms that can have a positive social impact. He has been recognized as one of the most influential people in the cryptocurrency industry and continues to be a key figure in the development of new blockchain projects.