The "Crypto Wealth Report 2024" was released by Henley & Partners, which provides a detailed analysis of the wealth distribution and growth trends in the global cryptocurrency market.
As of August 2024, the number of cryptocurrency millionaires worldwide increased by 95% year-on-year to 172,300. Among them, the number of individuals holding Bitcoin assets of more than $1 million increased by 103% to 85,400.
The report also pointed out that the number of individuals with cryptocurrency assets exceeding US$100 million increased to 325, and the number of billionaires increased to 28, an increase of 6 from the same period last year. This significant growth is primarily due to the successful launch of the Bitcoin ETF and its rapid growth. Since being approved in January 2024, the asset size of Bitcoin ETF has exceeded US$50 billion, and the participation of institutional investors has increased significantly.
The total market value of cryptocurrency assets is currently $2.3 trillion, up 89% from $1.2 trillion last year. As a result, the wealth of cryptocurrency tycoons has increased significantly.
The main reason for the growth is the important development of the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems, especially the launch of spot ETFs related to these two digital assets. Bitcoin remains the most dominant crypto asset, with its holdings increasing by 5.9% to 314 million by the middle of the year, accounting for 51% of all crypto asset holders. Meanwhile, Ethereum's adoption grew faster, increasing by 9.7%, bringing the total number of Ethereum holders to 136 million, accounting for 22% of the global market.
The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States and the fourth halving in April played a key role. The halving event in April this year reduced the block reward from 6.25 bitcoins to 3.125 bitcoins, enhancing the appeal of Bitcoin as digital gold and attracting a large number of institutional interests. Between 388,000 and 1.6 million Americans have invested in Bitcoin through US spot ETFs, further promoting the application of Bitcoin.
Ethereum's growth is mainly due to the Cancun upgrade in March, which significantly reduced transaction fees on Ethereum's second-layer network. The upgrade enhanced Ethereum's scalability and led to a surge in second-layer network activity, which now accounts for about 90% of all transactions on the Ethereum network, up from 77% before the upgrade. In the first quarter of this year, liquidity re-staking programs in the Ethereum decentralized finance ecosystem pushed the total locked value of decentralized finance to $100 billion, nearly 3 times higher than the previous quarter.
Ethereum has also benefited from increased institutional interest, especially before the SEC dropped its investigation into Ethereum and the regulator approved a spot Ethereum ETF, both of which boosted investor confidence in Ethereum and the market as a whole. The initial surge in interest led to a rally in Ethereum prices to $3,900 by June.
Spot ETFs have achieved impressive results since their launch, and the Bitcoin spot ETF has broken many records in the ETF market.
Triple-A, a Singapore-based payment company, released a report titled "Global Cryptocurrency Ownership in 2024", which shows that the global digital currency user base will reach 562 million people in 2024, accounting for 6.8% of the world's population, an increase of 34% from 420 million in 2023. 34% of cryptocurrency holders are between 24 and 35 years old, the largest proportion among all age groups. The UAE, Singapore and Turkey are among the 30 economies with the highest cryptocurrency ownership rates. Asia maintains its lead in cryptocurrency holdings, increasing from 268.2 million to 326.8 million, followed by North America with 72.2 million.
Singapore tops the Global Crypto Hub Index with a score of 45.7 out of 60, followed by Hong Kong and the UAE. All three countries stand out for their favorable tax policies, especially the exemption of capital gains tax. This is beneficial to cryptocurrency investors and high net worth individuals. Just recently, El Salvador's Bitcoin reserves grew to 5,851 Bitcoins, worth approximately $356.4 million. Russia has announced plans to begin trials on cryptocurrency exchanges and cross-border transactions on September 1, 2024.
According to Forbes' 2024 World Billionaires List, at least 17 people have become cryptocurrency billionaires, compared to nine last year. The total value of these 17 investors and entrepreneurs' estimated crypto asset holdings, publicly disclosed stock holdings, and private assets is $93 billion. This is more than double the total wealth of cryptocurrency billionaires of $37 billion last year.
Here are the seven richest people in crypto in 2024.
Top 1: Changpeng Zhao
Net worth: $33 billion
Zhao Changpeng agreed last year to personally pay a $200 million fine to settle federal money laundering charges brought by the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He also agreed to resign as CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance and to be barred from Binance for three years as part of his guilty plea. But that has had little impact on his wealth. His stake in Binance is estimated at 90%, worth about $32.5 billion, based on company documents and conversations with former employees. Binance remains the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, with an estimated $9 billion in revenue last year, according to a Forbes analysis.
Top 2：Brian Armstrong
Net worth: $11.2 billion
Armstrong, who co-founded Coinbase with Fred Ehrsam in 2013, is the company’s largest individual shareholder with an 18% stake.
Top 3：Giancarlo Devasini
Net worth: $9.2 billion
Devasini is the chief financial officer and largest individual shareholder of Tether, the parent company of the largest stablecoin USDT.
Top 4：Michael Saylor
Net worth: $4.4 billion
Saylor is the biggest gainer on this year's list by percentage. He is the CEO of MicroStrategy, a U.S.-listed company. Saylor's personal Bitcoin reserve holds 17,732 Bitcoins in 2021, which he bought at an average price of $9,882 per Bitcoin. Now Saylor is cashing out about $200 million in MicroStrategy shares.
Top 5：Paolo Ardoino
Net worth: $3.9 billion.
Ardoino serves as Tether’s CEO, its public face, and owns about 20% of the company, which is the largest parent company of the largest stablecoin, USDT.
Top 6: Jean-Louis van der Velde
Net worth: $3.9 billion.
The former CEO of Tether, who owns about 20% of the company.
Top 7: Chris Larsen
Net worth: $3.2 billion.
One of the founders of Ripple, holds 18% of Ripple’s shares.
Bitcoin millionaires surge in 2024, driven by spot ETFs and Bitcoin highs. Despite the recent decline in the cryptocurrency market, which was accelerated by Bitcoin's drop below $60,000 on August 28, the market is expected to strengthen again.
Bitcoin rose to an all-time high of $73,000 in March, and the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs brought a large amount of institutional capital to the crypto market. Anticipation is now growing for a potential Solana ETF.
In the rapidly evolving financial world, cryptocurrencies are challenging the dominance of traditional fiat currencies. As Bitcoin and Ethereum become mainstream investment products in the global financial market, we are witnessing the advent of a new era of global financial encryption. Despite short-term fluctuations, most investors still believe in the potential of Bitcoin and other crypto assets.
