On the Forbes real-time billionaires list, 15 of them have their main wealth derived from the cryptocurrency field, marking the rise of the crypto economy.
Bitcoin’s early investors are now among the world’s wealthiest people, but even these billionaires’ assets pale in comparison to Satoshi Nakamoto’s legendary fortune.
The rapid development of the cryptocurrency industry, especially the rise of Bitcoin, has created a group of billionaires. These early investors have gained rich returns in the cryptocurrency market with their keen insight and decisive decision-making.
The Winklevoss brothers became billionaires again after the surge in Bitcoin prices at the end of 2020, and their success story is a model for investors in the cryptocurrency field.
However, the scale of wealth of Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin, is even more staggering, estimated to be as high as 40 billion US dollars. His wealth has undoubtedly become an insurmountable peak in the field of cryptocurrency.
The cryptocurrency revolution has seen incredible growth since Bitcoin launched it in 2009. While early bitcoins were used to buy everyday items like pizza, cryptocurrencies have now become symbols of wealth.
According to the latest reports, as of June 2024, there are 15 rich people in the real-time Forbes billionaire rankings whose wealth mainly comes from the cryptocurrency field, a significant increase from the 9 in 2023. However, the volatility of the cryptocurrency market is also evident, with 17 cryptocurrency billionaires on the list at the beginning of 2024.
Tim Draper ($2 billion)
Tim Draper, a leader in Silicon Valley venture capital, has accumulated wealth mainly due to his accurate traditional investment strategy. However, what really made him famous was his bold move in 2014 - buying nearly 30,000 bitcoins seized from the Silk Road dark web at a price of $630 per coin.
That year, he boldly predicted that Bitcoin would break through the $10,000 mark within three years, and his foresight was verified only one month later. Although his prediction that Bitcoin would soar to $250,000 by the end of 2022 did not come true, it did not dampen his enthusiasm and confidence in the crypto market.
In April 2024, Tim Draper once again made a shocking statement: "The price of Bitcoin has increased from US$250,000 to US$10 million, and its upside is unlimited." He firmly believes that the value of Bitcoin is far from reaching its ceiling and there is still huge room for appreciation in the future.
In addition, Draper has shown a keen interest in the field of blockchain and smart contracts and has invested in many related companies. In order to further tap the potential of the crypto market, he founded Draper Goren Blockchain (DGB), a venture capital studio focusing on this field, in September 2023. Through this platform, he hopes to discover more innovative and disruptive blockchain projects and jointly promote the development of the crypto market.
Michael Novogratz ($2.5 billion)
Novogratz started his career at Goldman Sachs in 1989 and became a regular on the billionaires list. However, in 2013, his wealth shrank by two-thirds. It was also in this year that he began to invest in Bitcoin.
Since then, he has devoted himself to the crypto market, invested extensively in start-ups and various tokens, and founded the digital asset and blockchain company Galaxy.
But his crypto investment journey has not been smooth sailing. He had high hopes for Luna, a token associated with the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, but the market crash in 2022 dealt him a heavy blow. This turmoil may be an important factor in the sharp decline in his net worth from $4.8 billion in 2021 to $2.5 billion today. Despite this, Novogratz's confidence and enthusiasm for the crypto market have not been affected. In June 2024, he confidently predicted that Bitcoin is expected to break the $100,000 mark by the end of the year.
Winklevoss brothers ($2.7 billion)
You may know that Cameron Winklevoss and his twin brother Tyler accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for Facebook, but you may not know that they also started a new chapter as cryptocurrency evangelists after The Social Network.
The two brothers teamed up to found the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini. However, after the crypto market suffered a heavy blow in 2022, Gemini ran into trouble due to the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency lending company Genesi.
Still, they hold about 70,000 bitcoins, enough to make them a multibillion-dollar fortune, some of which they used to invest $4.5 million in ninth-tier American football club Real Bedford.
Jed McCaleb ($2.9 billion)
McCaleb founded the first bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, soon after bitcoin was created, inspired by a marketplace he built for users of Magic: The Gathering. In February 2011, he sold the startup for an undisclosed price to a developer who could take it to new heights, while retaining a minority stake in the company.
However, in the following years, Mt. Gox suffered a series of hacker attacks and was eventually forced to close in 2014, even though it was still responsible for processing up to 70% of Bitcoin transactions at the time.
It is worth mentioning that McCaleb did not stop during his time at Mt. Gox. He founded the Ripple cryptocurrency network in 2011 and co-founded the Stellar cryptocurrency network in 2014.
Matthew Roszak ($3.1 billion)
Matthew Roszak, co-founder of blockchain infrastructure provider Bloq, is a pioneer in the field of cryptocurrency. He bought his first Bitcoin in 2012 and praised it as "one of the greatest technological, financial, industrial and humanitarian innovations today." He has since invested in more than 20 Bitcoin startups, including BitFury and BitGo, demonstrating his keen business acumen. In addition, Roszak also advocated giving $50 in digital assets to each member of Congress. Although the feedback was mixed, this move undoubtedly made a positive attempt to popularize and promote cryptocurrency.
Jean-Louise van der Velde ($3.9 billion)
After years in tech, Jean-Louis van der Velde co-founded the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2013, which is still regarded as one of the longest-running and most liquid large exchanges. He also served as CEO of stablecoin issuer Tether until 2023. However, he is rumored to still own about 20% of Tether.
Paolo Ardoino ($3.9 billion)
Following van der Velde’s departure, Ardoino took over as Tether’s CEO and became the company’s new public face. He started his career as a programmer and joined Bitfinex in 2014 as a senior software developer. He also became involved in Tether's operations as it emerged as a top crypto stablecoin issuer. Last year, the company generated $6.2 billion in interest income, and Ardoino, as the majority shareholder with a 20% stake, reaped significant returns.
Michael Saylor ($4.8 billion)
Saylor is one of the most loyal supporters of Bitcoin. He once vividly compared the cryptocurrency to "a group of network bumblebees serving the goddess of wisdom". He has long been a staunch supporter of Bitcoin, but his attitude towards Ethereum seems to have changed recently.
In 1989, he co-founded the software company MicroStrategy. Subsequently, the company purchased a large amount of Bitcoin as a corporate financial asset. As of March 2024, MicroStrategy reportedly holds Bitcoin worth $13 billion, and Saylor himself holds more than $1.2 billion in cryptocurrencies. It is worth mentioning that he revealed in 2020 that he holds 17,732 Bitcoins.
Giancarlo Devasini ($9.2 billion)
Giancarlo Devasini serves as the CFO of stablecoin issuer Tether and reportedly owns 47% of the company. Tether is the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with more than 100 billion Tether tokens issued. The company is also one of the world’s largest Bitcoin holders, with over $5 billion worth of Bitcoin.
Brian Armstrong ($10.9 billion)
Brian Armstrong, a former Airbnb software engineer, co-founded the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012. Coinbase is the top crypto exchange in the United States, and he currently owns about 19% of the company. Coinbase successfully went public in 2021 with a valuation of up to $100 billion, but as of June 2024, its valuation has fallen back to about $62.6 billion. Despite this, the exchange still achieved a profit of $273.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. In February of this year, Armstrong sold 2% of Coinbase's shares, cashing out $53.2 million, which he subsequently injected into some cutting-edge startups, including NewLimit, the life extension company he founded.
Changpeng Zhao (worth $33 billion)
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reportedly controlled by founder Changpeng Zhao, who owns 90% of the company. Founded in 2017, Binance quickly raised $15 million through an initial coin offering (ICO) (although this figure has been disputed). Since then, the company has been gaining momentum. By 2023, the exchange has accounted for half of centralized cryptocurrency spot trading. But in the same year, CZ suffered a setback when Binance was forced to pay a $4.3 billion fine as a result of a settlement with the US government. CZ also resigned as CEO after pleading guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to four months in prison, starting in June 2024. He will become the “richest man” in a US prison.
Satoshi Nakamoto (worth $76.67 billion)
Bitcoin's mysterious creator, who goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, has not been seen in public since publishing a white paper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-To-Peer Electronic Cash System" on October 31, 2008, detailing his vision for a blockchain-based digital currency. Since then, Bitcoin has dominated the fast-growing cryptocurrency industry, but Nakamoto's true identity remains a mystery.
It is worth mentioning that Satoshi Nakamoto still holds about 1.1 million bitcoins and has never made any transactions. These bitcoins are like a stone sinking into the sea, and are even generally believed to be lost by the outside world. But if these bitcoins flow out of Satoshi Nakamoto's wallet one day, it will surely cause an uproar, and it will also become strong evidence to prove that the mysterious creator of Bitcoin is still alive. #币安合约锦标赛
