Crypto is changing how we transact and invest. Resultantly, the Forbes crypto billionaires list has expanded by 58% since last year. The list has also had seven new additions this year. Lets have a look at the top investors making a fortune with crypto.
1. Changpeng Zhao | $65 billion
Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as CZ, is the founder and CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. He continues to be the richest man in the crypto industry, with a net worth of $65 billion.
According to Forbes, Zhao owns at least 70% of the company, which generated an estimated $16 billion in revenue last year.
2. Sam Bankman-Fried | $24 billion
Samuel Bankman-Fried, also known by his initials SBF, is the founder and CEO of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange. He has a net worth of $24 billion but has no intention of hoarding his gains.
Fried has declared that his mission is to give away his entire fortune over the span of his lifetime. He owns more than 50% of his company and over $7 billion worth of FTX’s native token, FTT.
3. Brian Armstrong | $6.6 billion
Brian Armstrong is the CEO of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase. He has a policy of keeping the workplace free of political activism, for which he gained massive media attention. He has a net worth of $6.6 billion.
In 2012, he entered the Y Combinator startup accelerator and received a $150,000 investment, which he used to fund Coinbase.
4. Gary Wang | $5.9 billion
Gary Wang linked up with fellow crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried to launch FTX in 2019. He serves as the CTO of FTX. He is a newcomer on the crypto billionaires list with a net worth of $5.9 billion.
Gary was a software engineer at Google prior to founding FTX.
5. Chris Larsen | $4.3 billion
Chris Larsen is an angel investor who has co-founded several Silicon Valley technology startups, including Ripple Labs Inc, the developer of Ripple, which owns 61% of the total supply of its cryptocurrency, XRP.
Chris Larsen is a self-made billionaire and has a net worth of $4.3 billion.
6. Cameron Winklevoss | $4.1 billion
Cameron Winklevoss is a cryptocurrency and Bitcoin investor, and the co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, which processes about $200 million a day in trades. He has a net worth of $4.1 billion.
Cameron is a former Olympic rower. He and his brother Tyler accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for a social network, and received a $65 million legal settlement.
7. Tyler Winklevoss | $4.1 billion
The other Winklevoss twin, Tyler Winklevoss, is also an Olympic rower and co-founder of Gemini. He is the CEO of Gemini and has a net worth of $4.1 billion.
Tyler and Cameron used some of their $65 million legal settlement with Zuckerberg to start stockpiling Bitcoin. They still own an estimated 70,000 Bitcoins, in addition to other digital assets.
8. Song Chi-Hyung | $3.7 billion
Song Chi-Hyung is an ultra-rich Korean entrepreneur, the founder and chairman of Dunamu, which operates South Korea’s dominant cryptocurrency exchange, UPbit. He has a net worth of $3.7 billion.
Before starting Dunamu with Kim Hyoung-Nyon, Song worked at a local mobile payment company, Danal.
9. Barry Silbert | $3.2 billion
Barry Silbert is the founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG), a conglomerate of five cryptocurrency-focused companies. He has a net worth of $3.2 billion.
Grayscale is DCG’s biggest revenue generator, which oversees $28 billion worth of Bitcoin, Ether and other assets. DCG has also invested in over 200 crypto startups.
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