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In 2007, cryptocurrency was under scrutiny for becoming a potential disaster. In 2021, it is one of the hottest investments that everyone is eyeing on. Back then, there was only Bitcoin and now there are more than a thousand cryptocurrencies in the market. What changed? The power and the potential it holds.
In March 2020, the U.S economy took a hit and panicked investors sold most of their risky assets. Owing to that, Bitcoin's price fell 50% in a day and that affected the entire crypto market. In 2021, the fallen market saw the growth it deserved again and Bitcoin's price hit its all-time high of US$60,000 with the total cryptocurrency market cap crossing the US$1.5 trillion mark.
Since then, several institutions and business leaders have acknowledged the potential of cryptocurrencies. The crypto ecosystem is evolving and these crypto billionaires can certainly vouch for that.
Net worth: US$3 Billion, each
Founders of the crypto exchange Gemini, the Winklevoss twins began investing in Bitcoin in 2012. Back then, Bitcoin was trading between US$0.50 and US$5 during the first half of the year. It reached US$13.45 at the end of December. The prices seem unbelievable, right? The advantage of early investment reaped billions of dollars of benefit for the siblings.
Net worth: US$2.3 Billion
Micheal Saylor is the CEO of the renowned software firm Microstrategy. In December 2020, Saylor announced that he was buying US$1,000 worth of Bitcoin per second. This made the news for quite some time as in 2013, Saylor was varied about Bitcoins as he believed that this was going to tank just like online gambling. This impression changed when Microstrategy purchased US$245 million worth of Bitcoins between August and September of 2020.
Net worth: US$1.5 Billion
Roszak is the chairman of Bloq, a blockchain infrastructure company. His Bitcoin investment journey started in 2011. This was around the same time when the value of one Bitcoin became equal to the rate of the USD. It was soon trading at the price of US$32. His early-stage adoption made the value of his investments at more than a billion dollars now.
Net worth: US$1.5 Billion
In 2014, Tim Draper bought US$18.7 million worth of Bitcoins. The Bitcoins Tim purchased were the ones the U.S Marshals confiscated from the shuttered Silk Road black market. 2014 was a great year for Bitcoin. The price rallied from US$325 to US$853 for the first time.
Net worth: US$8.7 Billion
The 29-year-old MIT graduate is the Founder of Alameda Research and FTX exchange. He is the wealthiest crypto billionaire to date. In 2020, he donated US$5 million to Joe Biden's presidential campaign and made headlines.
Net worth: US$6.5 Billion
Brain Armstrong is the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase, one of the biggest crypto exchanges with over US$1 billion in revenue. In March this year, he disclosed that he has US$10 million portfolios in Bitcoins and altcoins.
Net worth: US$1.9 Billion
Fred Ehrsam co-founded Coinbase along with Brain Armstrong in 2012. In 2017, he left the company as the co-founder but remained a board member. With the 6% of his stake intact, it is approximately US$1.9 billion which put him on the crypto billionaires list along with his buddy. He now runs Paradigm, a crypto-focussed investment firm.
Net worth: US$1.9 Billion
Binance is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, if not the biggest. The exchange also has its own crypto, Binance Coin whose market cap is US$53 billion. Changpeng Zhao has an approximately 30% stake in the company, making him one of the wealthiest crypto persons.
Net worth: US$1.6 Billion
CoinDesk, a prominent cryptocurrency-related news site, is a part of Digital Currency Group (DCG), along with asset management firm Grayscale, which controls US$44 billion worth of Bitcoins and other crypto assets. Barry Silbert is the founder and CEO of DCG. This makes him one of the most powerful men in the cryptocurrency market.
Net worth: US$3.4 Billion
Ripple is a popular cryptocurrency that makes its way to the top cryptocurrencies list. Chris Larsen is the co-founder and chairman of Ripple. He reaped US$800 million worth of profit when his Ripple's token XRP reached new heights. He personally holds more than 3 billion XRPs and a 17% stake in the company.
Net worth: US$2 Billion
Jed McCaleb is also the co-founder of Ripple and holds 3.4 Billion XRPs. In 2014, he left Ripple and co-founded Stellar Lumens. As a member of Team Stellar, he now owns approximately 1 billion Stellar Lumens.
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Disclaimer: Analytics Insight does not provide financial advice or guidance. Also note that the cryptocurrencies mentioned/listed on the website could potentially be scams, i.e. designed to induce you to invest financial resources that may be lost forever and not be recoverable once investments are made. You are responsible for conducting your own research (DYOR) before making any investments. Read more here.
