19 "crypto" tycoons richest in the world
The cryptocurrency craze has created many millionaires and billionaires, sometimes overnight. There are currently about 1,500 cryptocurrencies on the market with a total market capitalization of $550 billion, an increase of 31 times since the beginning of 2017. The list of the richest people in the cryptocurrency world by Forbes is based on the amount of cryptocurrency held, after-tax profits from buying and selling cryptocurrencies, and shares in companies related to cryptocurrencies. The prices of cryptocurrencies are determined as of January 19, 2018.
1. Chris Larsen (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $7.5 - 8 billion)
Chris Larsen, 57, is the co-founder, chairman, and former CEO of Ripple, the company that issues the cryptocurrency Ripple (XRP) and provides international payment services based on blockchain technology. He currently owns 5.2 billion XRP, while Ripple holds over 61 billion XRP.
2. Joseph Lubin (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $1 - 5 billion)
Former Goldman Sachs employee Joseph Lubin, 53, is the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform. He also founded ConSenSys, which has 600 employees in 28 countries around the world, specializing in supporting cryptocurrency companies and consulting for companies like Microsoft.
3. Changpeng Zhao (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $1.1 - 2 billion)
In less than 7 months, Changpeng Zhao – also known as "CZ", created the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. Currently, Binance has 6 million users.
4. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $900 million – 1.1 billion)
Twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss invested $11 million in Bitcoin in 2012 and became billionaires when the cryptocurrency skyrocketed in 2017. They are also the founders of a cryptocurrency exchange based in New York with a daily trading volume of about $300 million.
5. Matthew Mellon (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $900 million – 1.1 billion)
As an heir to one of the largest banking empires in the U.S., Matthew Mellon, 54, began investing in cryptocurrencies a few years ago despite opposition from family and friends. He is one of the early investors in Ripple.
6. Brian Armstrong (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $900 million – 1.1 billion)
In 2012, Brian Armstrong founded one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world - Coinbase.
7. Matthew Roszak (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $900 million – 1.1 billion)
Matthew Roszak, 45, began exploring Bitcoin in 2011 and participated in some of the first Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in the world. He is the co-founder of the blockchain company Bloq and the investment fund Tally Capital.
8. Anthony Di Iorio (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $750 million – 1 billion)
Anthony Di Iorio is a co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform. He continues to invest in various cryptocurrencies. He is also the founder of the leading Canadian blockchain startup Jaxx & Decentral.
9. Brock Pierce (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $700 million – 1 billion)
Once a child actor, Brock Pierce, 37, is a pioneer in the cryptocurrency field, investing in dozens of cryptocurrency companies including Mastercoin, Coinbase, and Ethereum. He is currently the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation.
10. Michael Novogratz (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $700 million – 1 billion)
Once a famous hedge fund manager, Michael Novogratz, 53, began stepping into the cryptocurrency world in 2013 and left Fortress Investment Group to focus on this new field. He is currently the CEO of Galaxy Digital, a bank serving cryptocurrencies.
11. Brendan Blumer (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $600 – 700 million)
Brendan Blumer, 31, entered the virtual world at the age of 14 by selling magical weapons and game characters online. Blumer is behind the largest ICO in the world, raising $1 billion for the EOS.IO blockchain platform. He is currently the CEO of the blockchain technology startup Block.one.
12. Dan Larimer (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $600 – 700 million)
Dan Larimer, 35, is a co-founder of at least 3 blockchain platforms, including Block.one. He is also the chief technology officer at Block.one.
13. Valery Vavilov (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $500 – 700 million)
Witnessing his parents lose money when the Soviet government collapsed left a deep impression on Valery Vavilov, leading him to become interested in systems not controlled by a single authority. Decades later, he became the co-founder and CEO of Bitcoin mining company Bitfury.
14. Charles Hoskinson (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $500 – 600 million)
30 years old, Charles Hoskinson is a co-founder and briefly served as CEO of Ethereum before leaving to start his own startup. Hoskinson co-founded IOHK – a company building blockchain and cryptocurrency platforms for corporations, government agencies, and academic institutions.
15. Brad Garlinghouse (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $400 – 500 million)
A Harvard graduate, Brad Garlinghouse, 47, has worked at companies like AOL and Yahoo. He is currently the CEO of Ripple.
16. Barry Silbert (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $400 – 500 million)
Barry Silbert became famous on Wall Street when he founded Second-Market – a trading platform for hard-to-sell assets. He is currently the CEO of Digital Currency Group (which owns CoinDesk) and also invests in cryptocurrency companies like Ripple and Coinbase.
17. Vitalik Buterin (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $400 – 500 million)
Vitalik Buterin, 24, is the creator of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, which currently has a market capitalization of $100 billion.
18. Tim Draper (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $400 – 500 million)
Famous venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, Tim Draper, 59, is one of the early investors in Bitcoin. He is the founder of the investment firm Draper Associates.
19. Song Chi-Hyung (Estimated cryptocurrency net worth: $300 – 500 million)
In just 4 months, the Upbit exchange founded by Song Chi-Hyung has become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea. In December last year, the average trading value on this exchange was $4.7 billion, with peak trading days reaching $11 billion.
Crypto billionaire loses more than $14 billion overnight
Yesterday, FTX cryptocurrency exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried still owned $15.6 billion, but now only has $1 billion left. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the 30-year-old curly-haired billionaire, is likened to John Pierpont Morgan (the financial mogul who created JP Morgan) of the cryptocurrency market. He is one of the most famous figures in the crypto world, known as SBF. SBF supported recent projects like BlockFi, Voyager Digital, and Celsius. He also invested in Robinhood Markets, sparking speculation that the young crypto billionaire would take over this trading app. Just last year, Sam said that once the FTX cryptocurrency exchange grew large enough, it could swallow CME Group or Goldman Sachs. However, within a few days, Bankman-Fried and FTX sank into a liquidity crisis. According to Bitcoinist, FTX's balance sheet showed signs of financial instability. As of June 30, the company's assets had reached $14.6 billion, but the only thing they owned was $3.6 billion in FTT. This is a token issued by the FTX exchange. Another item mentioned in the report is "FTT collateral assets," which account for $2.16 billion.
In light of this information, CZ - the billionaire at the head of the Binance exchange announced that he would liquidate the FTT tokens that this exchange holds. The price of this cryptocurrency has since dropped by about 80%. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, 53% of Sam's stake in FTX was worth about $6.2 billion before the crisis occurred. This figure is estimated based on the valuation from the previous funding round and public trading data. However, FTX is not the only asset of SBF. A larger contribution to Bankman-Fried's wealth is Alameda Research - a cryptocurrency trading company valued at $7.4 billion. Bloomberg assumes that current FTX investors, including Bankman-Fried, will lose nearly all their assets when Binance comes to the rescue. The roots of these problems stem from Alameda. As a result, both FTX and Alameda were marked down to a value of $1. This caused Bankman-Fried's net worth to drop to about $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, down from $15.6 billion on Tuesday (November 8). The 94% drop in one day is the largest in the history of Bloomberg's billionaire asset tracking.
Crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao (CZ), head of the Binance exchange, said on November 8 that he would participate in a deal to support FTX. The detailed terms have not been disclosed. What is happening with FTX could cause a shock to investors, including Softbank Vision Fund, Singapore's Temasek investment fund, and Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. They invested $400 million in this exchange at a valuation of $32 billion at the beginning of the year. But this incident has not only concerned those directly involved with FTX. It has made the entire cryptocurrency industry wonder: If even SBF is in trouble, who is safe? Alameda was founded by Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang - an engineer who previously worked at Google. They discovered a niche market for investing based on price discrepancies of cryptocurrencies in different countries and soon expanded their business network.
This company seems to be doing quite well. Bloomberg reported in September that Alameda earned about $1 billion in 2021. However, there are still many questions surrounding how FTX and Alameda interact with each other. For his part, CZ seems ready to add FTX to his empire. He is currently the richest person in the cryptocurrency field, with an estimated net worth of about $16.4 billion. Zhao's net worth peaked at $97 billion in January, according to Bloomberg. Paul Gulberg, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, believes it is unclear exactly what the collapse of FTX will mean for the U.S.-based exchange. However, this is showing "how fragile this world is."