Hall of Flame – Cointelegraph Magazine

Author of Undressing Bitcoin: A Revealing Guide to the World’s Most Revolutionary Asset and host of The Layah Heilpern Show.

Author, podcaster and crypto influencer Layah Heilpern’s unapologetic and sometimes controversial tweets have amassed her an impressive 606,900 Twitter followers.

She tells Hall of Flame she fearlessly “speaks the truth about things” and admires others who do likewise. 

Unlike many influencers represented by fancy talent agencies, Heilpern decided to keep it all in the family by hiring her brother Gideon as her manager.

“There’s no one I trust more in this world than my brother. I can rely on him 100%,” Heilpern says.

Heilpern says she has “great parents” and isn’t shy about letting the world know her mother is more attractive than Madonna. (Although that’s no longer as impressive as it once was.)

Before achieving fame in the world of crypto, she had an interesting stint working as a journalist for Chinese state media, when she briefly became a business and finance correspondent for a China Central Television offshoot in 2019.

“I used to work with China’s Global TV network, so I actually used to be a journalist for the Chinese government,” she reveals, adding that working there took micromanagement on an entirely new level:

“I did one report on Huawei technology. I had all the Chinese people around me checking what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying. So, we’re instructed to make it a fluff piece rather than an actual good report.” 

However, she threw her career in state-sponsored journalism out the window when she fell down the crypto rabbit hole.

Heilpern became obsessed with the subject and even published a book called Undressing Bitcoin: A Revealing Guide to the World’s Most Revolutionary Asset in 2021 despite admitting she “was always terrible at English in school.”

As for her career highlight so far? She says nothing has topped interviewing the big wig of the world’s largest crypto exchange. [Hall of Flame interviewed Heilpern prior to the SEC’s recent slew of allegations about CZ and Binance.]

“[A career highlight for me is] interviewing CZ at the Binance blockchain event in Dubai where I was the host and MC for the whole conference. CZ is one of the most powerful people in crypto and one of the greatest innovators. Interviewing him on stage was incredible.”

It seems that Heilpern made a positive impression on CZ, too, as they often can be seen engaging in banter on Twitter.

What led to Layah Heilpern’s Twitter fame?

Heilpern has been on Twitter for over a decade and explains there is no shortcut to growing a fanbase — other than actually putting in the work.

“When you tweet every day, you tend to build a following. I think it’s also because I speak the truth about certain things. I think people are thirsty for the truth… whatever the truth might be.”

She explains that the more followers you have, the easier it is to build more followers “because you have credibility.”

“I can gain 50,000 followers in one month, whereas that could take somebody like two years to do. So, it sort of becomes quite rapid growth eventually,” she says.

But the fame side of things doesn’t really excite Heilpern.

What can you expect on Heilpern’s Twitter account?

Heilpern doesn’t want to sugar-coat it: Her content is not for everyone.

“It’s very much freedom orientated. It’s very much anti-system, Bitcoin-focused, uplifting, and positive, personal responsibility,” she explains.

She doesn’t feel the need to appeal to everyone either.

“I speak very unapologetically; I think there is just a gap in the market for that. So, people just run to you,” she says.

Heilpern says that, as her audience grows, she does have to be more cautious about the impact of her words and to be more mindful of her safety.

“My words have more weight, so I can’t make as many jokes anymore. But I still try not to censor myself too much. I also have to be careful about sharing personal information, which I will be doing less of.”

That being said, Heilpern has no problem taking shots at multibillion-dollar corporations.

What Heilpern enjoys on Twitter

Heilpern enjoys like-minded people on Twitter who “speak the truth about things” whether that is in crypto or politics — she just craves honesty and hates bullshit. 

“I like people who call out the bullshit that we see in the system. I don’t like people who pander to their audience. I like people who are unapologetic and say things how they are.”

Layah Heilpern’s price predictions

Heilpern’s Bitcoin price prediction for the remainder of 2023 isn’t exactly going to have you jumping out of your seat.

“Over the next six months towards the end of 2023, I would say we’re just going to continue to move sideways. I don’t think we’re going to go any higher than $34,000–$35,000,” she says.

However, she is optimistic about Bitcoin over what the next 12–24 months can bring.

“I mean, maybe at the end of 2024, we could potentially reach all-time highs, again around $69,000, but that is not financial advice,” she says.

Heilpern says Bitcoin could hit $100,000 in “early 2025.”

While Heilpern can’t remember if it was Bitcoin or XRP that she bought first, she does admit that she “sold the XRP immediately.”

“I don’t really have any predictions for the other [cryptocurrencies]. I just think they’re all very unpredictable shitcoins,” she states.

As for Ethereum, Heilpern doesn’t see the price dropping anytime soon but has no interest in it.

“The price of Ethereum will continue to rise in my opinion, given how much is being built on it. However, I don’t like Ethereum, as I think it’s controlled by the elites and not decentralized.”