Updated on:11/30/2025 02:35 PM 
CryptoSlate recently had the opportunity to speak with Ran Neuner, the founder of the rapidly growing live-streaming crypto media platform, CryptoBanter.
Prior to launching CryptoBanter, Ran founded and built The Creative Counsel, a major marketing and advertising agency in Africa. He sold the company to the global media giant Publicis for over $150 million after discovering the world of cryptocurrency. He then went on to create and host "Crypto Trader," the world's first and only televised crypto show on CNBC Africa.
Could you share your background and how you first got involved in the crypto space?
My background is in traditional media. I founded and scaled The Creative Counsel, a massive marketing and advertising agency in Africa, which I eventually sold to Publicis for over $150 million. I sold the business because I discovered crypto, and like so many others, once I went down the rabbit hole, I couldn't focus on anything else. I bought my first Bitcoin in 2015!
In 2017, frustrated by the lack of quality information and news in the space, I created and hosted the world's first televised crypto show on CNBC. The show was a huge success and quickly became the most-watched program in the sector!
What is CryptoBanter, and how does it differentiate itself from other crypto communities?
CryptoBanter is a live-streaming media platform designed to deliver 24/7, credible information to the crypto community. We realized that the need for live, reliable streaming content wasn't being met. If investors want live streaming news, they often have to turn to Crypto Twitter or Telegram, but unfortunately, those platforms are filled with too much noise.
Our mission is to move the conversation from Telegram and Twitter to a live streaming, curated, and moderated environment that is trustworthy.
To that end, quality, variety, and trust are the core pillars of everything we do. We have a strict policy of NEVER accepting any form of payment, whether in cash or tokens, for project exposure or reviews. I believe this is a HUGE differentiator in the space.
We will never compromise our trust and quality. It remains a non-negotiable principle of this platform to NEVER accept any payment or free tokens for project reviews. Even though it's common on YouTube channels, we never want our community to have to question whether we are being paid to promote tokens. We hold ourselves to an extremely high standard and expect the same from any guest we invite on the show. We insist on publishing our research and our calls on our website to ensure we remain accountable.
How have you managed to cultivate such a strong and engaged community with CryptoBanter in such a short amount of time?
I have been in the space for several years and created and hosted the world's first televised crypto show on CNBC. Through that platform, I built a large following that is now watching CryptoBanter.
I also believe we are filling a huge gap in the market—the gap for credible live streaming information backed by principles. We are also the only platform building a network with major big-name hosts.
We are flooded with positive feedback and are confident we are hitting the mark.
What responsibilities do you have as an influencer to retail investors?
The average investor in this space is unfortunately relatively new and inexperienced. Many of them make investment decisions based on hype and influencer comments. Having been in the spotlight in 2017, I am well aware of the influence that we carry and that investors make decisions based on our comments.
I have therefore taken a very strict approach that includes no payment for exposure, no free tokens from any project, making calls that are backed by research, publishing my research on a public site, and publishing my calls and every other guest's calls on that same site to ensure we are accountable. I am also transparent about my holdings!
With your prior success on CNBC Africa's Crypto Trader, how does this market feel different compared to the previous bull run in 2017?
In 2017, we were very early and were investing in ideas and dreams. 2021 is different:
As a content creator, what drives you to create compelling crypto content every day?
My content is a reflection of my journey in the space, and every day I share with my community what I see. As I get feedback from the community and realize how they are learning, growing, and making better decisions, that fuels my passion!
What does the future hold for CryptoBanter?
We are so excited about our roadmap. In the next 4 months, we are building out 8 hours of daily programming. We are busy launching a hub for crypto education, a real hub with classes, etc. We will also be beefing up our website to become a research resource that investors can rely on. We have a huge plan!
Do you have any blockchain and/or crypto predictions for 2021 and beyond?
We are in a period of disruption. The law of disruption states that if a new product is 10x better than an incumbent, the disruptor will likely succeed. Many legacy industries today are poised for disruption; they have not innovated at all and have relied on regulation to keep them in business. Blockchain has exposed these industries and has begun disrupting them. Finance and gold are already in the midst of massive disruption by Bitcoin and DeFi, and this is just the beginning.
Blockchain will continue to disrupt many more industries.
What is your most controversial opinion relating to blockchain and/or cryptocurrency?
The winner in the decentralized smart contract blockchain race (ETH, SOL, AVAX, etc.) will eventually be bigger than Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a store of value and will win that race, but the massive opportunity is in derivatives, finance, and more, which will be just one layer of many on the smart contract blockchains.
