By Daniel Phillips and Ali Shutler
9 min read
Since Bitcoin kickstarted the cryptocurrency revolution in 2009, the crypto space has grown dramatically. And while some early adopters used their Bitcoin to buy pizza, for the most part the digital currency has become synonymous with wealth.
As of June 2024, the real-time Forbes Billionaires List currently features 15 individuals who are reported to have made a majority of their fortune thanks to the world of cryptocurrency, compared to just nine in 2023. However, at the start of 2024 the list featured 17 crypto billionaires—highlighting just how volatile the crypto world can be.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization sits at $1.3 trillion at the time of publication—roughly half of crypto’s $2.6 trillion global market cap, which has itself seen an increase of 134% over the past twelve months. As of June 2024, there are around 19.7 million BTC in circulation, about 94% of the currency’s maximum supply of 21 million.
Many early adopters have gone on to reinvest in the crypto space, which has helped millionaires become billionaires. But others are happy to keep themselves to themselves. According to BitInfoCharts, there are currently 56 different wallets holding over $1 billion in Bitcoin, but many of these are held by companies or corporations.
Several other whales have chosen to remain anonymous, with a handful never touching their massive Bitcoin wealth. Maybe they’ve lost their keys?
It’s been reported that Bitcoin ownership improves a portfolio's performance, so it’s easy to assume that many billionaires will have dabbled in the currency—but we’re just going to focus on those that have made a majority of their fortune through Bitcoin for this list.
Tim Draper at Web Summit Rio 2023. Image: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Web Summit Rio via Sportsfile (Licensed under CC BY 2.0 Deed)
Tim Draper made the bulk of his fortune via the more traditional world of Silicon Valley venture capital. However, in 2014 he made headlines when he bought almost 30,000 BTC that had been seized from dark web marketplace Silk Road at a U.S. government fire sale in 2014—for roughly $630 a coin. That same year he predicted Bitcoin would top $10,000 a coin within three years.
He was only one month off, but a later prediction that the cryptocurrency would reach $250,000 by the end of 2022 didn’t pan out.
That doesn’t seem to have dented his enthusiasm, though; in April 2024 he predicted that, “$250,000, or $1 million or $2 million, or even $10 million, are number that are probably going to happen.”
Elsewhere, Draper has invested in a number of blockchain and smart-contract companies, launching crypto-centric venture studio Draper Goren Blockchain (DGB) in September 2023.
Mike Novogratz on Messari Mainnet 2021 panel. Image: Messari Mainnet
Novogratz has been a regular on the billionaires list since 2007 after beginning his career at Goldman Sachs in 1989, but his fortune had shrunk by two-thirds before he bought Bitcoin in 2013.
From there, he went on to invest in a number of startups and tokens within the world of crypto including founding Galaxy, a digital asset and blockchain company.
Some of his ventures have been less successful than others though. He bet big on Luna, a token tied to algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, which collapsed in 2022. That might explain why, despite owning a reported $4.8 billion of crypto in 2021, he’s now worth $2.5 billion. In June 2024, he predicted that Bitcoin could top $100,000 by the end of the year.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are big into Bitcoin. Image: Shutterstock
You might know Cameron Winklevoss and his identical twin Tyler as the people who accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for Facebook, but what you didn’t see on “The Social Network” was their second act as crypto evangelists.
The twins co-founded crypto exchange Gemini, which became ensnared in the bankruptcy of Genesis, a crypto lending company, after the crypto market plummeted in 2022.
However, the two brothers also own an estimated 70,000 BTC, which is enough to make them both multi-billionaires in their own right. They used some of that wealth to invest $4.5million in ninth-tier football club Real Bedford.
Shortly after Bitcoin was created, McCaleb set up Mt.Gox, the first Bitcoin exchange, which was based on an idea he had for creating a marketplace for “Magic: The Gathering” users. In February 2011, he sold the fledgling exchange for an undisclosed amount to a developer who could take it to the next level, remaining a minority owner in the company.
Mt. Gox was hit by a series of hacks in the years that followed, before it shut down completely in 2014 despite still handling 70% of all Bitcoin trades.
While this was going on, McCaleb founded Ripple in 2011, and in 2014 co-founded Stellar, two crypto exchange networks.
The co-founder of blockchain infrastructure provider Bloq, Matthew Roszak was an early convert to the world of cryptocurrency, buying his first Bitcoin in 2012. He went on to call Bitcoin "one of the greatest technological, financial, industrial and humanitarian inventions of our time." Unsurprisingly, he’s since invested in over 20 Bitcoin start-ups, including BitFury, BitGo, Blockstream, Robocoin and Xapo.
Roszak also co-led an initiative to give each member of Congress $50 worth of digital assets. Some accepted, but some refused.
After spending years in the world of tech, Jean-Louis van der Velde helped co-found cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2013, which now claims to be the longest-running and most liquid major exchange around. He also became CEO of sister stablecoin issuer Tether, eventually stepping down from the position in 2023—but he reportedly still owns about 20% of the company.
After serving as the public face of Tether, Ardoino succeeded van der Velde as CEO of the stablecoin issuer. Ardoino started his career as a computer programmer before joining Bitfinex as a senior software developer in 2014; he went on to get involved with Tether as it became the biggest issuer of crypto stablecoins. Last year, the company made $6.2 billion in profit via interest, with Adroino owning a 20% stake in the business.
Michael Saylor. Image: Bitcoin Miami 2021
Saylor is one of Bitcoin’s biggest advocates, having memorably described the cryptocurrency as “a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom.” A long-term Bitcoin maxi, Saylor’s view on Ethereum seems to have softened lately.
He helped co-found software firm MicroStrategy in 1989, which went on to purchase a whole lot of Bitcoin for its corporate treasury. In March 2024, it was reported that MicroStrategy owns $13 billion worth of BTC, while Saylor himself personally owns over $1.2 billion worth of the cryptocurrency, after revealing that he holds 17,732 BTC in 2020.
Giancarlo Devasini is CFO of stablecoin issuer Tether and reportedly owns a 47% stake in the company.
Tether is the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with more than 100 billion Tether tokens having been minted. The company is also one of the largest Bitcoin holders in the world, with over $5 billion worth of BTC in its vaults.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Image: Coinbase (Image edited by Decrypt using AI, subject was not altered)
Brian Armstrong is a former Airbnb software engineer who co-founded the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012. He currently owns around 19% of the company, which is America’s largest exchange.
Coinbase went public in 2021 with a $100 billion valuation, which has since slipped to around $62.6 billion as of June 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the exchange posted profits of $273.4 million.
In February 2024, Armstrong sold a 2% stake in Coinbase, raking in $53.2 million, putting the cash into cutting-edge startups including his life extension company NewLimit.
Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao at Web Summit 2022. Image: Ben McShane/Web Summit via Sportsfile (CC BY 2.0 Deed)
Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao reportedly owns a massive 90% of the company.
Founded in 2017, Binance quickly raised a claimed $15 million through an initial coin offering (though the figure has since been disputed). Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength. In 2023, Binance facilitated almost half of all spot trades processed by centralized crypto exchanges.
2023 wasn’t such a good year for CZ though. Binance was forced to pay out $4.3 billion as part of a settlement with the U.S government, while CZ was required to step down as Binance’s CEO after pleading guilty to money laundering. His four-month prison sentence for the crime began in June 2024, making him the richest inmate in a U.S prison.
A statue of Satoshi Nakamoto, founder of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology, created by Reka Gergely and Tamas Gilly and installed in Budapest. Image: Istvan Csak / Shutterstock.com
On October 31, 2008, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto shared a whitepaper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-To-Peer Electronic Cash System” to explain their vision of a digital currency built on blockchain. Since then, the cryptocurrency has become the biggest player in a rapidly-expanding industry—but Satoshi has never revealed their true identity.
Bitcoin’s ever-elusive founder still owns some 1.1 million BTC, and has never touched them. Indeed, those Bitcoin are considered lost—and were they ever to be moved from Satoshi’s wallet, it would likely have dramatic consequences, confirming that the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin was alive and well.
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