ZoneBitcoin EditorialHere the list published by Forbes, of the richest people in cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies are still a trendy topic. And it's not going to stop anytime soon. Moreover, what contributed to the hype around bitcoin and the blockchain is most certainly these stories of guys becoming millionaires overnight.
The mainstream media actually got the headlines and that's how bitcoin was presented to the general public.
Forbes has published a list of the richest people in cryptocurrency. These people today have a few thousand, or even a few hundred thousand dollars in bitcoin.
Chris Larsen: the co-founder of Ripple
With a net worth estimated between $7,5 and $8 billion, Chris Larsen is the richest of all cryptomillionaires, in Forbes' list.
He is the one who co-founded the cryptocurrency Ripple, this project using blockchain to manage cross-border transactions and already adopted by banking institutions. He thinks anyone should be able to send money anywhere and without paying a ton of fees to do so. And, he's clearly right, right?
Larsen has an MBA from Stanford and has also spent quite a bit of time in Silicon Valley. He owns a 17% stake in Ripple, which is currently listed in the top 10 cryptocurrencies in terms of value At the time of writing, there are over 100 billion XRP in total.
Ripple holds 61 billion. It's no wonder this man is at the top of the richest people in cryptocurrency.
Joseph Lubin: Co-founder of Ethereum
Ethereum, the platform designed for hosting decentralized applications and smart contracts, is even more important than Ripple. Since its development, Ethereum has quickly climbed into the top 5 alternatives to Bitcoin and regularly ranks second behind Bitcoin.
Moreover, in general, the most novice only know bitcoin and ethereum.
It is estimated that Joseph Lubin owns (depending on the price) between 1 and 1,5 billion dollars of Ethereum and especially its security platform ConsenSys. These two concurrent projects contribute to the launch of different cryptographic companies. Lubin is rumored to be one of the largest investors in Ethereum and the largest holder of Ether.
After reading the Bitcoin white paper, he decided to invest in the project and was convinced that blockchain technology had even more potential. After a brief meeting with Vitalik Buterin, he was 100% up for it. You surprise me!
Changpeng Zhao: CEO of Binance
Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, with 1,4 million transactions per second. Yes, per second. The platform has over 6 million users and until today refuses to include traditional fiat currencies. These factors have helped Binance become the one with the largest volume and highest level of security on the market.
Changpeng Zhao launched Binance in July 2017, just as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were taking off. He raised $15 million for the platform. Since then, he has developed Binance, a platform on which you can trade 120 cryptocurrencies. Moreover, Binance uses 100+ wallets and 240+ broker pairs.
The exchange platform receives thousands of cryptocurrency applications, but Zhao only accepts 3%. He just wants projects with a solid user base, well-established liquidity, and a credible team behind it.
Changpeng Zhao is worth between $1,1 billion and $2 billion in crypto thanks to Binance, putting him in third place on the list of richest people in cryptocurrency.
Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
You probably know them from history and their battles with Facebook. It’s no surprise that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were looking for another “next big thing.” They believed their next business should be based on cryptocurrency. More specifically, they believed in bitcoin.
In 2012, the two brothers invested in the bitcoin project long before many people had heard of it. Then they went to New York and founded Gemini. Again like Binance, it is a crypto exchange platform that processes more than $300 million in daily transactions.
Currently, Gemini is one of the only exchanges whose users can trade with US dollars. This specialization will only be more beneficial to the Winklevoss twins as the general public becomes more involved in the crypto space. Both have a crypto net worth of around $900 million to $1,1 billion.
Matthew Mellon: lone investor
Matthew Mellon has no involvement in any cryptocurrency project directly. He's quite the investor - one of the only pure investors on this list. He inherited his fortune from a famous American bank and made a name for himself as finance chairman of the New York Republican Party.
Initially, his crypto investments were only in bitcoin a few years ago. After his family convinced him that BTC was a scam, Mellon sold all of his bitcoins. He bought Ripple instead.
Why did he choose Ripple? Quite simply because Ripple is the cryptocurrency par excellence for banks.
He bought $2 million worth of coins, which currently makes him worth about $1 billion in XRP. He considers Ripple to be “pro-American, pro-business, and pro-banking.” Now, Mellon lives in Los Angeles with his Ripples warm and cozy.
Brian Armstrong: CEO of Coinbase
Brian Armstrong founded the most popular and accessible cryptocurrency purchasing platform in the United States: Coinbase. This exchange is known to be very easy to use and ideal for beginners.
Today, Coinbase allows you to store 9 cryptocurrencies and soon they will release a cryptographic bank card.
Coinbase's success is because users can purchase bitcoin with a debit or credit card, while also adding their bank account to make purchases.
During Bitcoin's peak last year, Coinbase has become the most downloaded iOS app in the United States, with 4,3 million monthly users logging in to invest. Coinbase had $1 billion in revenue in 2017.
Brian Armstrong has an estimated net worth of $900 million to $1 billion in cryptocurrency.
Matthew Roszak: co-founder of Bloq
Before ICOs were even called that, Matthew Roszak was participating in them. He invested in early projects such as Mastercoin, Factom and Maidsafe in 2013 before becoming an early partner in Blockchain Capital's first fund.
The man had experience as a startup entrepreneur and had worked with software companies as a VC before venturing into cryptocurrencies. So he knew perfectly well what he was doing.
Roszak then founded Tally Capital, which has invested in startups such as Kraken, Coinbase and BTCC.
He notoriously sponsors dinners for people to come talk about cryptocurrencies and even gave Richard Branson and Bill Clinton their very first bitcoins. Roszak's crypto fortune is estimated to be between $900 million to $1 billion in crypto net worth, making him one of the richest men in cryptocurrency.
Anthony Di Iorio: Co-founder of Ethereum
Anthony Di Iorio studied marketing at Ryerson University in Toronto before starting to study economics after the financial and real estate crash. He wanted to think about a new way of approaching and using money.
During his studies, Di Iorio became involved in the Bitcoin meetups group in Toronto. At a meeting he met Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum.
Di Iorio invested in Ethereum before it even went public. Since then, he has become involved in Qtum, Vechain and Zcash, among other cryptocurrencies. It is really with Ethereum that he is one of the richest men who own crypto.
He likes to start a project early and use those earnings to invest in another new startup. Since creating Ethereum, the token has reached a value of over $100 billion. Anthony Di Iorio's capital would be between $750 million and $1 billion.
Brock Pierce: President of the Bitcoin Foundation
Minnesota native Brock Pierce rose to fame on the Internet by founding Digital Entertainment Network, which could be considered the predecessor to YouTube. He raised $88 million before the project failed. Then, out of love for business in general, Pierce discovered Bitcoin and was immediately won over.
During the early days of cryptocurrency, Pierce was involved in Mastercoin, Coinbase, Ethereum, Bitfury, Block.one and now the Bitcoin Foundation. As he became one of the richest in crypto, he experienced setbacks with the law.
During this time, Pierce was convicted of sex crimes and even accused of sexual misconduct. He denies the truth of all these accusations.
Now, Pierce wants to donate $1 billion of his crypto earnings to a blockchain-powered charitable community. It will be based on a new blockchain that he will help finance.
One of the most “controversial” people on the cryptocurrency richest people list, Brock Pierce has an estimated net worth of between $700 million and $1 billion in crypto.
Michael Novogratz: CEO of Galaxy Digital
Michael Novogratz was on Forbes' billionaires list in 2007 before losing his money shortly after the economic crash. Refusing to lose everything, he left the Forbes Investment Group in 2015 to enter the world of crypto as a trader.
Fortunately, because that’s how today he is one of the richest men in crypto.
Novogratz claims the crypto space is in a bubble, but then he founded Galaxy Digital, an investment bank focused on crypto success, and it wants to open a subsidiary in Canada.
Although he is coy about the gains he has made, it appears that Novogratz has made a difference with Ethereum. According to the Forbes list, he has a crypto net worth of $700 million to $1 billion.
The complete ranking
