Who Are the Richest of the Crypto Holders?
The Five Crypto-Richest People in the World
Cryptocurrency is now a $2.2 trillion market. Why is that a noteworthy number? Because at the beginning of 2021 the market was in the neighborhood of $800 billion. That’s a huge change in only 12 months. What’s even more startling is that the market value is calculated after the big decline in cryptocurrencies’ valuations.
Needless to say, a lot of people made a lot of money off their investments in cryptocurrencies. They chose the right offerings at the right prices, and they now top the list of the world’s richest crypto holders. (Side note: I’m jealous! But props to them all.)
Now I’m not going to give you advice on whether or not you should invest in specific cryptocurrencies. That’s up to you, and of course you must do your own due diligence if you decide to take the plunge. My purpose here is to give you a look at some of the people who hit it big in this ever-evolving market. And while I’m sure most of them had a great deal of wealth to begin with, it’s still informative to give you a short peek into these lucky investors.
1. Changpeng Zhao
$75 billion
Zhao has his fingers in a number of crypto pies, but he is best known for creating Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume. He also launched his own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin, in 2021 on the Ethereum blockchain. Additionally, CZ, as he’s known, helped in the development of Blockchain.info and served as CTO of OKCoin. The fact that he’s an insider in the world of crypto may have a lot to do with his crypto fortune.
2. Satoshi Nakamoto
$35 billion
Nakamoto is a bit of a mystery. You see, he’s the supposed creator of Bitcoin, but no one really knows for sure. Very little is known about him. He was allegedly born in Beppu, Japan in 1949 into a very poor family before he and his mother moved to California in 1959. Other than that, he’s an enigma. In fact, it’s not very clear whether he’s still alive. Now that’s an international man of mystery!
Whoever the creator of Bitcoin is, though, Nakamoto is certainly its wealthiest holder. He is estimated to be the owner of one million Bitcoin. Unfortunately for him (if he’s still alive) he hasn’t been able to sell any of his Bitcoin for fear it would reveal his true identity. Sound like the Howard Hughes of crypto!
3. Sam Bankman-Fried
$15 billion
One of the largest crypto exchanges, FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried in 2019. FTX raised $900 million from the likes of Coinbase Ventures and SoftBank in July 2021 an $18 billion valuation. That put Sam among the wealthiest people in the world – before turning 30! He’s the son of two Stanford law professors and studied physics at MIT, so obviously he’s got not only money but brains. A large percentage of his wealth, which he says he will eventually donate to charity based on a philosophy called “earning go give,” is tied up in ownership of about half of FTX and a share of his FTT tokens. Nice to see the superrich being so charitable!
4. Brian Armstrong
$7.5 billion
Armstrong owns 19% of the Coinbase, which makes him among the wealthiest people in crypto. After going public in April 2021, Coinbase at one point surpassed a market capitalization of $100 billion. As the CEO of Coinbase Global, Armstrong leads the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. Before beginning Coinbase Global, he was a software engineer for Airbnb.
5. Chris Larsen
$5 billion
At #5 on our list is Chris Larsen. He co-founded crypto payment protocol RippleNet, which has major companies like American Express and Santander as customers. Though Larsen stepped down as CEO in December 2016, he remains as Ripple's chairman. He also founded the cryptocurrency XRP, which nearly quadrupled in value over the course of 2021, only adding to Larsen's considerable wealth, as well as co-founding online mortgage lender e-Loan.
Charity-conscious, Larsen and his foundation gave $25 million to San Francisco State University in 2019.
Conclusion
A few years ago, cryptocurrencies were barely understood and taken seriously by very few people. Today you can buy and sell them on exchanges and use them for purchases, including cars, tech items, and so much more. The point is, new technologies – and even new currencies – are constantly being invented and accepted into mainstream life.
That doesn’t mean every new technology or cryptocurrency is a place to invest. Huge amounts of cash have been lost on such investments. Remember the Segway? Not the revolutionary product it was touted as. But the above list shows that knowing what you’re investing in can bring spectacular rewards. Getting in sooner than everyone else on something that will eventually take off is even better.
The problem is that we never know what those great investments will be. You’ll just have to do your research. That means NOT listening to hype, but really investigating the underlying strengths of the new tech or currency. If you do, maybe the next time I publish a list of the richest people in crypto, you’ll be on it.