In the crypto world, people can make fortunes overnight.
Other than the Zuckerbergs, Musks, and Gates of the world, the crypto rich list comprises other players in the crypto ecosystem — investors, developers, and trading exchange founders who oil the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Below is a list of the wealthiest bitcoiners globally.
The rankings indicate the developing nature of this industry.
They include people who founded coins and companies but are considered billionaires based on trading volumes, market valuations, and crypto holdings.
The 5 Richest Bitcoiners
1. Changpeng Zhao
He is the founder of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
By January 2022, Changpeng Zhao had a net worth of $96 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Changpeng’s fortune may be significantly higher since these estimates don’t include his personal cryptocurrency wealth, including his Binance coin and Bitcoin holdings.
Forbes estimated his net worth to be $1.6B in April 2021.
Changpeng immigrated from China to Canada when he was 13 years and came across BTC through a poker game with pals.
Zhao went all-in on crypto afterwards and sold his apartment for BTC in 2014.
He founded Binance in 2017, a crypto exchange handling transactions worth billions of dollars every day.
Although Binance is not as popular as Coinbase in the U.S, it is bigger and provides more coins and derivatives to clients than its rivals.
In 2021, Binance generated $20B in revenue.
Binance’s quick ascent has had a serious effect on its regulatory standing.
The exchange is under regulatory inspection in significant financial jurisdictions forcing it to operate without a headquarters.
Changpeng declared that he remains calm with his billionaire status and welcomes cryptocurrency regulations in an interview with Bloomberg.
He claims that he doesn’t care about wealth and rankings and is ready to give away most of his fortune before he passes away.
2. Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam’s rise to cryptocurrency billionaire status has been relatively rapid.
He is a California native and MIT grad. Bankman-Fried is the founder of FTX, which is among the most well-known cryptocurrency exchange globally.
Sam founded FTX in 2019, and in October 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $26.5B.
FTX stands out from its rivals by providing a slate of innovative products not available at other crypto exchanges.
The products comprise digital tokens of physical stock, pre-initial public offering (IPO) contracts, and sophisticated derivatives.
Sam hit the headlines in 2020 when he donated over $5M to U.S President Joe Biden’s campaign.
Bankman-Fried is a vegan and refers to himself as an effective altruist, an individual who optimises his social impact across a wide range of societal initiatives.
3. Brian Armstrong
He is the creator of Coinbase, North America’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
Brian Armstrong co-founded Coinbase in 2012 after leaving his job as an Airbnb software engineer.
He has a 19% stake in the exchange, and Forbes estimated his net worth at $10.4B in January 2022.
Bloomberg estimated Armstrong to be worth $9.69B in the same period in its billionaire index.
As a result of its credibility and simple-to-use interface, Coinbase is considered the best exchange for an entry-level retail investor to join the cryptocurrency world.
Coinbase has faced several hiccups like halts in trading while trying to scale operations amidst cryptocurrency volatility.
It went public in April 2021 with $41.736B total market capitalisation at the close of trading on 11th April 2022.
Brian claims that he created Coinbase because he wanted the globe to have a universal open financial system that drove freedom and innovation.
4. Michael Saylor
BTC has attracted many unconventional investors in the past years.
However, no investor has Michael Saylor’s zeal.
He is the CEO of MicroStrategy Inc (MSTR), a software firm.
The company started acquiring crypto in 2020 August by snapping up BTC worth $250M.
At that moment, it declared that it was purchasing Bitcoins to make better use of them on the firm’s balance sheet.
Michael has become a ferocious BTC supporter and appeared at crypto conferences and news to spread the gospel on the benefits of Bitcoin.
Saylor’s evangelism has inspired many people who’ve invested in BTC and received great returns.
You can also get inspiration from Michael and dive into the crypto world today!
Reputable Crypto exchanges like Independent Reserve enable you to buy Bitcoin in minutes, and it also has a user-friendly interface that beginners can easily navigate.
By 2021 December, MicroStrategy had increased its BTC holdings to $3.5B, diving in to purchase the crypto during price dips. This strategy has served Michael and his firm well.
MicroStrategy’s stock price increased by over 337% by December 2021 after it declared the BTC acquisition.
According to Forbes, Michael is worth $2.2B following his bet on BTC.
5. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss
These two parlayed the millions they received from litigation against Facebook in crypto.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss became the first billionaires in the cryptocurrency world after the late 2017 surge in BTC prices. According to Forbes, each has a net worth of $5B.
Even though a significant portion of their wealth emanates from crypto investments, the twins are also businessmen who founded the Gemini crypto exchange.
After Gemini’s $400M fundraising in November 2021 was valued at $7.1B. Additionally, the Winklevoss twins own Nifty Gateway, a site to sell and purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Wrap Up
As crypto becomes more popular, the number of individuals acquiring billions off the new class of assets has skyrocketed.
Some cryptocurrency billionaires have amassed their wealth by offering services and products to the rising ecosystem, while others have earned revenues by investing in cryptocurrency volatility.
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