Hall of Flame – Cointelegraph Magazine

Name: Wendy O 
Anonymous: No 
Twitter followers: 330,000
Known for: crypto commentary, shitposting, trading analysis and community initiatives

Who is Crypto Wendy anyway? 

Wendy is a former healthcare professional turned crypto trader and content creator, or what she describes as a “YouTube shock jock.” 

While the switch from health to crypto came about due to a number of reasons, one big factor was that the long commutes and working hours were taking her away from spending more time with her number one asset: her daughter.

“For seven years, I worked in infectious disease, HIV/AIDS, and I had a three-hour round trip commute four times a week. I was far from my daughter, and I just wanted to be close to her,” she says, adding: 

So then I bought some Bitcoin. And I was like, Oh, God, this is cool. Like, I didn’t really know, I just saw a number go up. And I was like, awesome. This is cool. This stands for liberty.”

Diving into crypto, firstly via Bitcoin in 2017, Wendy taught herself how to trade and discovered that being able to do so round the clock, 24/7, worked perfectly with having a one-year-old daughter, as she could fit everything around her child’s schedule.  

How did she get popular on Twitter? 

Wendy puts all of her audience growth down to being authentic online, advocating for what she believes in and standing up for the underdog. 

“I just was myself, and I was authentic online. I hosted meetups, I defended people, I went after jerks [online]. I trashed the SEC and kind of stood up for the people and powered people, and I just grew my audience organically,” she says. 

“I just was doing it because I wanted to really help the underdogs and help people who grew up poor, like I did, and people that came from really fucked up backgrounds to know that they can join any industry they want and thrive.”

In the early days of her online career, a notable portion of her growth came from hosting free crypto-focused meetups. Wendy said that because the big-name events were too expensive for herself and many others, she started hosting her own gatherings to plug that gap.  

“I noticed a need for meetups and events that were affordable because all the crypto events back then, you had to pay like $1,000 to go and I grew up super poor. I didn’t have $1,000 [to spare]. I hosted over four dozen free meetups in L.A. County, and you know, across the United States, one in Canada, and then I just created the YouTube channel to livestream those events,” she said.  

What can you expect from her on Twitter? 

Wendy spends a lot of her time slamming the hawkish behavior of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other villains in the crypto space. 

Apart from that, she’s most likely supporting other people and initiatives in the industry, offering trading analysis or partaking in some good old-fashioned shitposting (a recurring theme among many popular crypto influencers.) 

“I’m very blessed and grateful to have a large audience. And all social media platforms. I think we’re at 815,000 globally on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram,” she says.

“It’s really awesome because I get to use my platform to support initiatives like the Digital Currency Traders Alliance; we’ve raised over $50,000 for a nonprofit called the Self Care lab […] So I’ve been able to be a really big advocate for things that are important to me, and it’s just really awesome.” 

The Self Care Lab is a boxing gym located in Pomona, California, that caters to underprivileged and at-risk youth.

Being a longtime client of the gym and a strong proponent of using physical fitness to uplift the youth, Wendy tapped into her network in late 2021 to raise the funds to not only move locations but upgrade various worn-down pieces of equipment. 

Twitter Beefs

Unlike other figures in the Twitter Hall of Flame, Wendy isn’t keen to discuss or bring attention to her series of spats with other people in the industry. She puts the emphasis on reconciliation rather than recriminations.

“Probably some of my favorite beefs are people that have trashed me on the internet  who have then met me in person and have said, you know, ‘I’m sorry for being a dick.’ I’ll just leave it at that, as I feel like that’s nice.”

But she’s not without a bit of edge:

Some in the community do have beef with Wendy however.

Like many other influencers and figures in the space, Wendy unfortunately promoted the now bankrupt crypto lender Celsius to the community, prior to the firm’s shady practices coming to light.

In certain videos she can be seen touting the platform’s earn/yield features, and drawing comparisons to the rates offered by banks. While she has since distanced herself from the firm, and potentiallylosta bit of her own money locked up there, some in the community haven’t forgotten as we discovered after we published this very article.

Twitter likes & dislikes

“I love Twitter because I’m able to connect with so many amazing people on a global scale and from all over the United States. And that’s dope.

I like to talk to people who came from where I came from, and who have a passion and are passionate about things that I am. So that part is amazing.”

On the other hand: “A lot of people aren’t very nice on the internet. Sometimes everybody’s got a voice and an opinion and when you work in a male-dominated industry, there is that reality of getting talked to not very nicely; people sexualizing you, people saying shitty things to you, people calling you dumb because I don’t come from money. I don’t come from traditional finance, I don’t come from a tech background,” she says. 

Looking ahead 

“I want to keep growing and I want to be able to include as many underdogs as I can, and let everybody know no matter what background or how different you are from somebody else, that you matter, your voice matters and keep advocating for retail, and let them know that I’ll be their voice when needed,” she says.

Updated to include community criticism highlighting Wendy’s promotion of Celsius.