The crypto market is a Trillion dollar market. Despite the decentralization at its core, there are a few key players in the crypto market who move the needle with their billion-dollar net worth. However, due to the long crypto winter and bear market, these notable figures lost a considerable amount of their net worth. This list details the top 10 crypto billionaires in the world, their current net worth, and their source of income.
Changpeng CZ Zhao; Net Worth: $29.7 B; Rank: 38; Source of Income: Binance
Changpeng Zhao or CZ is one of the most influential personalities in the crypto ecosystem. He is also the richest crypto billionaire. CZ is the founder and CEO of the crypto exchange Binance. Binance is the biggest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume. Binance has also been aggressively expanding overseas and continues to dominate the crypto market. CZ made most of his money from the Binance stock. He also holds Bitcoin and Binance Coin or BNB.
However, the crypto crash has erased a substantial portion of his net worth. His worth fell from an all-time high of $ 96.9 billion to $29.7 billion on the 10th of October. He fell from the 19th spot in Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index to the 38th spot.
Sam Bankman-Fried; Net Worth: $15.34 B; Rank: 94; Source of Income: FTX
In the 2nd spot, we have another crypto exchange owner. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of FTX, is an extremely influential and opinionated crypto billionaire. FTX is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges and is one of the biggest competitors to Binance. He is also the head of Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm.
Much like CZ, Bankman-Fried suffered massive losses during the crypto winter. His net worth reached an all-time high of 29.5 billion on the 29th of March, 2022. He is currently ranked 94th on the Bloomberg billionaire index.
Gary Wang; Net Worth: $4.6 B; Rank: 559; Source Of Income: FTX
In the 3rd spot, we have the other FTX co-founder. An MIT alum and ex-Googler, Wang is a co-founder and the Chief Technical Officer of the FTX crypto exchange. According to reports, Wang currently holds about 16% of the shares in FTX.
According to Forbes’s real-time billionaire data, Wang is currently ranked as the 559th richest billionaire.
Song Chi-Hyung; Net Worth: $3.1 B, Rank: 886, Source Of Income: Upbit
In the 4th spot, we have Song Chi-Hyung. Chi-Hyung is the co-founder of Upbit, the largest crypto exchange in South Korea. According to reports, Song has a 25% stock in Dunamu, which is the parent company of Upbit. According to the Forbes real-time billionaire index, Song is currently worth $3.1 billion and is ranked in the 886th spot among the world’s billionaires.
Chris Larsen; Net Worth: $3.1 B, Rank: 891; Source of Income: Ripple
In the 5th spot, we have our first founder of a cryptocurrency. Chris Larsen established the real-time payment system Ripple in 2012. Ripple remained the CEO of Ripple until 2016, before continuing to serve the company as an executive chairman. He also invented a decentralized lending system, Prosper, in 2005.
Larsen is one of the early pioneers of the crypto ecosystem and one of the earliest crypto billionaires. According to the real-time billionaire index, he currently ranks in the 891st spot among the world billionaires with a net worth of $3.1 billion.
Brian Armstrong; Net Worth: $2.8 B; Rank: 1004; Source of Income: Coinbase
In the 6th spot, we once again have the head of a crypto exchange. Brian Armstrong is the President and CEO of Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US. According to reports, Armstrong holds around 20% of Coinbase’s shares.
Brian Armstrong is also an influencer on crypto regulation. He has a role to play in directing the crypto regulation in the European Union. Armstrong is attempting to do the same in US politics. Armstrong’s net worth has been reduced significantly during the crypto market. According to Forbes, he is currently ranked in the 1004th spot in billionaires.
Jed McCaleb; Net Worth: $2.5 B; Rank: 1105; Source of Income: Ripple, Stellar
Jed McCaleb was another co-founder of Ripple and its token XRP. However, due to internal differences, McCaleb left the payment company and started another cryptocurrency, Stellar. He is also the Chief Technology Officer of Stellar.
McCaleb is also a pioneer in the Blockchain ecosystem. He established the Mt. Gox crypto exchange, which is the first major Bitcoin exchange. However, Mt. Gox was later hacked. According to Forbes, McCaleb’s net worth is $2.5 billion and he is ranked 1105th in the billionaire ranking.
Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss; Net Worth: Cameron-$2.2 B, Tyler-$2 B; Rank: Cameron: 1304,Tyler: 1305; Source Of Income: Bitcoin
In the 8th and 9th spots, we have the popular Winklevoss brothers. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are popular for their role in the popular movie Social Network. They are the co-founder of the Gemini crypto exchange and the NFT platform Nifty Gateway.
The Winklevoss brothers also lost a significant portion of their wealth in the crypto winter. Back in March, both the brothers were $4 billion each. Their net worth has been reduced in half during the bear market.
Nikil Viswanath & Joe Lau; Net Worth: $2.1 B each; Rank: 1341 each; Source of Income: Alchemy
Nikil Viswanath and Joe Lau are the co-founders of Alchemy. Alchemy is a Web 3 platform, which aims to build and scale decentralized applications on the blockchain. Nikil Viswanath and Joe Lau were classmates at Stanford. They initially collaborated in Down To Launch, a meet-up app.
Both Nikil and Joe hold a 26% share in Alchemy and both ranked at the 1341st spot on the Forbes real-time billionaire ranking.
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
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