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Source: Forbes, compiled by Deng Tong, bitchain vision
The cryptocurrency winter is over.Bitcoin has more than doubled in the past 12 months after the U.S. has legalized exchange-traded funds pegged to Bitcoin and hit an all-time high of $73,000 in March.According to CoinGecko, the total value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation has increased by 170% over the past 12 months, with a market capitalization increasing by about $1.6 trillion.
According to Forbes’ 2024 Global Billionaire Ranking, at least 17 people became cryptocurrency billionaires, while last year’s cryptocurrency billionaires were 9.The total value of these 17 investors and entrepreneurs is $93 billion in estimated crypto asset holdings, publicly disclosed stock holdings and private assets.That’s more than double the total wealth of crypto billionaires last year’s $37 billion.
Zhao Changpeng, founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has become the richest man in cryptocurrency for the third consecutive year.Although CZ pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in the United States in November, to the best of his knowledge,CZ is currently worth an estimated $33 billion, up from $10.5 billion last year.This makes him the biggest cryptocurrency gainer in USD since last year,The 50th richest man in the world.Much of his wealth comes from his majority stake in Binance, which, by volume, remains the largest global trading venue in the industry.
The two companies with the biggest gains this year are grateful to investors in their listed companies.MicroStrategy, a software company that has invested heavily in Bitcoin, is currently worth an estimated $4.4 billion, compared to $760 million last year.Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, is estimated to be worth $11.2 billion, compared to just $2.2 billion last year.Shares in Coinbase and MicroStrategy have both risen more than four times in the past 12 months.
For the first time on Forbes Billionaire rankings are Giancarlo Devasini, Paolo Ardoino, Jean-Louis van der Velde and Stuart Hoegner, four major shareholders of Tether, a controversial but lucrative stablecoin issuer.Crypto’s three-comma club also includes familiar faces such as Winklevoss twins (known for Facebook), venture capitalist and Nikki Haley supporter Tim Draper, and Ripple co-founder and budding space entrepreneur Jed McCaleb.
Here are the richest people in the crypto space in 2024:
Note: Net asset statistics are as of March 8, 2024; the comparison period is from March 8, 2024 to March 10, 2023.
Top 16: Joe Lau
Net assets: $1.5 billion ($1.8 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Alchemy
Top 16:Nikil Viswanathan
Net assets: $1.5 billion ($1.8 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Alchemy
Two Stanford alumni co-founded Alchemy, a Web3 infrastructure provider in 2020, with development kits powering cryptocurrency and blockchain projects.At the beginning of 2022, investors valued Alchemy by more than $10 billion.Today, the company is valued at about $5.6 billion based on secondary sales of private equity.
Top 15:Tim Draper
Net assets: $2 billion (compared to $650 million) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin
Draper is a venture capitalist and early Bitcoin investor.In 2014, he bought 29,656 bitcoins confiscated by the U.S. bailiff from the closed Silk Road black market for $18.7 million (or $632 per bitcoin).They are now worth $2 billion.He has also made dozens of venture capital investments in companies from Tesla to Theranos.
Top 14:Stuart Hoegner
Net worth: $2.5 billion ($1.2 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether
Stuart Hoegner, who has served as general counsel for Tether and his sister company Bitfinex since 2014, holds an estimated 13% stake.Hoegner is a Canadian Certified Public Accountant who started his career with Ernst & Young before founding Gaming Counsel Professional Corporation, a law firm dedicated to online gambling and cryptocurrency clients.He also served as director of compliance and deputy general counsel for Excapsa Software, an online poker company that has been involved in a software cheat scandal.
Tether is accused of facilitating money laundering for terrorist and criminal organizations, including human trafficking gangs carrying out “pig killing” crypto scams.(Tether said it follows “KYC and anti-money laundering agreements” and is “still committed to quickly working with law enforcement” to identify criminal activities.) In 2021, Tether and his sister company Bitfinex paid $18.5 million to meet the New York Attorney General’s Office in 2021.The Chief Office reached a settlement alleging Tether exaggerated his cash reserves.
Top 13:Mike Novogratz
Net assets: US$2.5 billion (returnees) | Source of wealth: Galaxy Digital Holdings, Bitcoin
As an early Bitcoin investor, Novogratz leads cryptocurrency investment firm and commercial bank Galaxy Digital Holdings, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and manages about $6 billion in assets.His stake in the company is worth approximately $2 billion.Before entering the crypto industry, Novogratz worked on Wall Street.He worked at Goldman Sachs for a decade before leading a macro fund for private equity firm Fortress Investment Group, and later became president of the company.
Top 12: Tyler Winklevoss
Net assets: US$2.7 billion (US$1.2 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin, Gemini
Top 11: Cameron Winklevoss
Net assets: US$2.7 billion (US$1.2 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin, Gemini
Winklevoss twins are notorious for having a feud with Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s founding (as described in the 2010 film Social Networks), and most of their wealth is related to Bitcoin, which they first bought in 2013Bitcoin.The Winklevii family also controls a 75% stake in Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange they co-founded, which aims to compete with companies like Coinbase and Binance.The last time outside investors valued Gemini over $7 billion was in 2021, but Forbes now estimates Gemini to be less than $1 billion as its trading volume was triggered by the collapse of its interest-bearing plan Gemini Earn in 2022Investors and government litigation fell sharply.
Top 10:Jed McCaleb
Net assets: $2.9 billion ($2.4 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: XRP Sales
Another early cryptocurrency pioneer, McCaleb, founded Mt. Gox in 2010, the first major Bitcoin exchange.He sold it a year later, and the exchange was hit by a notorious hacker.Next, McCaleb co-founded Ripple in 2012, but soon stopped disagreeing with other founders.Much of his fortune comes from selling most of the 9 billion XRP he initially earned as Ripple co-founder.He sold his last token in 2022.(McCalleb also founded Ripple’s rival Stellar in 2014.) Now, he spends his time and money on Vast, a space exploration company he supports.
Top 9:Matthew Roszak
Net assets: US$3.1 billion (US$1.1 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin, Ethereum
As an early investor in Bitcoin, Roszak made his first purchase in 2010.Much of his wealth comes from early bets on cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Binance’s native token, BNB.Roszak also runs Bloq, a blockchain startup that invests in other cryptocurrency businesses and provides project consulting.
Top 8:Fred Ehrsam
Net assets: US$3.2 billion (US$930 million in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Coinbase, Paradigm
Ehrsam co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012 with Brian Armstrong.He left the company in 2017 but remains on the board and still holds about 5% of the company.In 2018, he co-founded the cryptocurrency investment company Paradigm, which currently manages more than $8 billion in assets.
Coinbase had revenues of $2.9 billion last year, down from $3.1 billion in 2022 and $7.8 billion when cryptocurrency prices last soared in 2021.But the company has returned to profits with a net profit of $100 million, compared with a net loss of $2.6 billion in 2022.
Top 7:Chris Larsen
Net assets: US$3.2 billion (US$2.2 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Ripple, XRP
Larsen co-founded Ripple in 2012 to facilitate international payments using XRP cryptocurrencies.He resigned as CEO of Ripple at the end of 2016 but remains executive chairman.He owns 18% of Ripple, and investors value Ripple at $3.8 billion, according to secondary market data recently shared by Forbes.According to Forbes, he also owns a large amount of XRP (more than 2.8 billion tokens) as well as nearly $1 billion in cash and investment, most of which comes from previous XRP sales.
Top 6:Jean-Louis van der Velde
Net worth: $3.9 billion ($1.8 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether
As the former CEO of Tether, van der Velde serves as a puppet to maintain Tether’s top strategic relationship with banks and regulators and owns approximately 20% of the company.He left the Netherlands in 1985 to attend university in Taiwan, and then co-founded several IT and tech startups in Asia before joining Tether.He lives in Hong Kong.
Top 5:Paolo Ardoino
Net worth: $3.9 billion ($1.8 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether
Ardoino serves as Tether’s CEO, his public image, and owns approximately 20% of the company.He joined Tether’s sister company Bitfinex in 2014 as a senior software developer.Ardoino previously worked as a computer programmer at a startup.
Top 4:Michael Saylor
Net assets: US$4.4 billion (US$760 million in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: MicroStrategy, Bitcoin
By percentage, Saylor is the cryptocurrency billionaire with the biggest gains on the list this year.Founded in the 1990s, the software company Saylor has transformed into a Bitcoin investment vehicle in recent years, with MicroStrategy’s share price rising by nearly 500% from last year.According to its chief financial officer, the company currently owns about 193,000 bitcoins, making it the world’s largest Bitcoin corporate holder.
Then there is Saylor’s personal Bitcoin reserves – Saylor says he holds 17,732 bitcoins in 2021, and he buys at an average price of $9,882 per bitcoin – he is cashing in about $200 million in MicroStrategy stock,He made the announcement early this year.
Top 3:Giancarlo Devasini
Net worth: $9.2 billion ($4 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether
Devasini is the chief financial officer and possibly the largest individual shareholder of Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer in the cryptocurrency space, a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the US dollar or other hard currency and used as a medium of exchange.Tether tokens have been minted over 100 billion.Driven by rising interest rates, Tether generated $6.2 billion in profits last year through interest rates.Devasini estimates to own 47% of Tether, and Forbes values Tether using an average price-to-earnings ratio of a group of listed mid-sized banks and asset management companies.
Top 2:Brian Armstrong
Net assets: $11.2 billion ($2.2 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Coinbase
Armstrong co-founded Coinbase with Fred Ehrsam in 2013, and is the company’s largest individual shareholder with an 18% stake.The cryptocurrency exchange’s share price has risen 50% so far this year, more than triple from last year, with a market value of nearly $60 billion.Since November, Armstrong has sold over $170 million worth of Coinbase stock through the automatic 10b5-1 trading program.
Top 1: Zhao Changpeng
Net assets: $33 billion ($10.5 billion in the same period last year) | Source of wealth: Binance
Changpeng Zhao (CZ) last year agreed to pay a $200 million fine to settle federal money laundering charges filed by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.(Binance agreed to pay an additional $4.5 billion.) He also agreed to resign as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance and was not allowed to participate in Binance for three years as part of his guilty plea.(Zhao Changpeng’s sentencing hearing is scheduled to be held on April 30).But this had little effect on his wealth.His stake in Binance is estimated at 90%, worth about $32.5 billion, according to company documents and conversations with former employees.
According to Forbes analysis, Binance remains the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, with revenue estimated at $9 billion last year.
