# Justin Benjamin

> Justin Benjamin is the co-founder and COO of Normal, a Chicago-based crypto savings and index investing platform built on Stellar. He is also a beach wrestling world champion - the first U.S. man to win a Senior Beach World Series gold medal - and serves as Head of Strategy for USA Wrestling. He was a Big Ten wrestler at Northwestern University and earlier built products at CoinFlip and Bitcoin of America before co-founding Normal through the Antler Boulder accelerator in 2022.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & COO at Normal Finance
- **Organizations:** Normal Finance, USA Wrestling, DeFi United, CoinFlip, Bitcoin of America, MitoSkin, U.S. Venture, Inc., Northwestern University Wrestling
- **From:** St. Charles, Illinois, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Learning & Organizational Change, Northwestern University, High School, St. Charles East High School
- **Known for:** First U.S. man to win a Senior Beach World Series gold medal (Acapulco, March 2024) at 70 kg, Only the second American of any gender to win Senior World-level beach wrestling gold, Co-founder & COO of Normal Finance, a crypto index and savings platform

## Career timeline

- **2019** — Began wrestling at Northwestern University (Big Ten / Division I)
- **2021** — Worked in business development and sales at Bitcoin of America and CoinFlip
- **2022** — Joined Normal as co-founder shortly after Antler Boulder acceptance and $100K pre-seed
- **2023** — Placed 9th at 70 kg in the Beach World Series
- **2024-03** — Won gold at Beach World Series Acapulco - first U.S. man to win a Senior Beach World Series title
- **2024-09** — Promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Normal
- **2025** — Silver medal, Beach World Series Monterrey, Mexico
- **2026** — Continues to lead operations at Normal Finance and compete on the U.S. Beach Wrestling team

## Achievements

- First U.S. man to win a Senior Beach World Series gold medal (Acapulco, March 2024) at 70 kg
- Only the second American of any gender to win Senior World-level beach wrestling gold
- Co-founder & COO of Normal Finance, a crypto index and savings platform
- Big Ten / Division I wrestler at Northwestern University
- Four-time Dukane Conference champion at St. Charles East (152-30 career high school record)
- Founder of DeFi United, a community for crypto professionals
- Head of Strategy, USA Wrestling

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Selected to lead the five-athlete U.S. team at Beach World Series Porec in Croatia
- **2026-05** — Won 70 kg title at the 2026 Carolina Beach Nationals

## Links

- Website: https://normalfinance.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-benjamin1/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/normalfi
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeTnaDUg8uYplYd4ocALo2Q
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justindbenjamin/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/normalfinance/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/justin-benjamin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-30