Comprehensive analysis of the subject! As you say in an emerging field like crypto, it's often one individual that is driving the project, and often stands for it in it's entirety. Blind euphoria and undiscriminate followership are always bad advisors for any investor, yet it's often the achievements of one man that manages to bring things into existence, that no one thought to be possible before them, and your article covers a lot of examples for this. It is not only their originality to come up with a ground-breaking concept, but also their capability to let those ideas come to life. All the brillant minds you've covered like Edison, Jobs, Nakamoto, it's also their charisma and their capability to inspire people, make them believe in something and participate, that makes lets a project fly.
It's like the value of bitcoin, which is real because a sufficient number of people believe it is real and are willing to participate, invest etc in it.