Cryptocurrency Lords Already Rearing Their Heads Among The World’s Richest

The fashion for cryptocurrencies does not stop and more and more investors, developers and issuers are getting rich thanks to the correct use of this digital currency. They still have a long way to go to reach the Bezos, Arnault, Musk, Gates and company, but this year there are already twelve billionaires (in 2020 there were four) among the most powerful tycoons, according to the latest list prepared by Forbes magazine. .

Sam Bankman-Fried
He is the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and a legend in the world of digital currencies. In two years, FTX went from being relatively unknown to one of the top 5 exchanges, with more than $ 400 billion in monthly trading volume last April.

Bankman-Fried, which is ranked 274th richest with a net worth of $ 8.7 billion , would be surprised to see ether outperform bitcoin, considering that bitcoin has the huge advantage of being the first agreed-upon default cryptocurrency, which it’s very valuable. “It is difficult for me to see ether displacing bitcoin, although I could be wrong,” he sums up.

Brian armstrong
At 38 years old, he ranks 404 with a net worth of $ 6.5 billion . The fortune of the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase has multiplied by more than six in the last year in between thanks to the boom in investments in cryptocurrencies . Coinbase has established itself as the dominant cryptocurrency market in the United States, generating more than $ 1 billion in revenue last year. The company has made a good debut on the stock market in recent days.

Your company will evaluate cryptocurrencies based on their security and it is the first time that they decide to incorporate digital currencies without volume. “We will have to do this in the future: be the first to list some of these currencies.” Still, Armstrong prefers to be cautious: “I don’t think cryptocurrencies are here to solve all the world’s problems.”

Chris Larsen
Known for being the co-founder of several Silicon Valley tech startups, Larsen, 61, is the co-founder and chairman of Ripple, which increased its fortune by $ 800 million as the value of his firm’s XRP token skyrocketed. It owns more than 3 billion XRP and a 17% stake in Ripple Labs. It has a net worth of $ 3.4 billion and is ranked 891 of the richest in 2021.

“We don’t see a need for the world to have a new currency; we see a need for a better way to move existing currencies. Market makers will find it very efficient to use a digital asset or a cryptocurrency as part of their trade, but only if This cryptocurrency allows you to exchange all things of value.

Bitcoin does not allow that. That is why we created Ripple, we mainly exchange dollars, euros, yen, etc. We see that Ripple (XRP) becomes the universal bridge for all things of value, and market makers will use it to create markets. “

The Winklevoss Twins
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (39) are ranked 1,008 among the richest in the world with a net worth of $ 3 billion each . They are the first billionaires of bitcoin. “We were on vacation in Ibiza, when a boy told us about bitcoins. We were fascinated from the beginning,” they assured The New York Times .

They both came out in 2009 for their war with Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that the Facebook founder had stolen their idea. They asked for more than 100 million dollars and in 2011 they ended up accepting 65. Two years later, they decided to invest 11 million in a virtual currency that at that time was just becoming known: bitcoin.

Michael Saylor
The CEO of software firm MicroStrategy built – and lost – a fortune during the first dot-com crisis. Saylor’s 56-year-old estate is now worth $ 2.3 billion thanks to his pre-boom investment in bitcoin. It is currently ranked 1,362 among the richest.

“I believe that Bitcoin will become the reserve of hard money in the 21st century. There are 8 billion people who need hard money or a monetary asset. If they are going to live a dignified life, that asset must be digital,” he confessed in Kitco News .

Jed mccaleb
McCaleb, another co-founder of Ripple, has amassed most of his wealth thanks to his 3.4 billion XRP. He also owns about 1 billion Stellar Lumens, the cryptocurrency he co-founded in 2014 following a dispute with his colleagues at Ripple. With a net worth of $ 2 billion , McCaleb, 46, is ranked 1,580 among the richest.

Fred ehrsam
Ehrsam, 33, co-founded Coinbase with Armstrong in 2012. He left the company in 2017, but remains a member of the board. Its 6% stake is worth an estimated $ 1.9 billion . Ehrsam currently runs crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm. It is ranked 1,664 of the richest in the world.

Changpeng Zhao
He is the founder and CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume as of April 2018. Zhao is estimated to own a 30% stake in the company. It ranks 1,664 with a net worth of $ 1.9 billion .

“We are only at the beginning of the adoption of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and blockchain technology are as disruptive and important as the Internet was for our society,” he stated in a recent interview with Invertia .

Rogoff on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies: Authorities have to wake up before it’s too late
Rogoff on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies: Authorities have to wake up before it’s too late

Barry silbert
Barry Silbert, 44, is listed at number 1,931 on the Forbes list, with a net worth of $ 1.6 billion . His Silbert fortune is tied to Digital Currency Group (DCG), the cryptocurrency conglomerate he founded in 2015. DCG’s holdings include crypto news website CoinDesk and asset management company Grayscale, which controls 44,000. million dollars in Bitcoin, Ether and other assets.

Matthew roszak
Roszak, 49, is ranked 2,035 with a net worth of $ 1.5 billion . He is a venture capitalist and cryptocurrency investor who discovered bitcoin in 2011. Those first investments a decade ago have built a billion-dollar fortune. Roszak is the president of Blog, a blockchain company.

He demands “a regulatory framework that answers all doubts so that institutions can start working. I think that in one or two years some central bank will begin to adopt bitcoin in its Treasury and that will catalyze its adoption in the rest,” he said during his presentation at Consumer Electronic Show.

Tim draper
A staunch defender of the free market and one of the evangelists of bitcoin, Draper made his fortune by investing in Hotmail, Skype, and Tesla Motors. The 63-year-old Silicon Valley venture capitalist bought 30,000 units of bitcoin in 2014 valued at $ 18.7 million.

Draper is also ranked 2,035 of the richest with a net worth of $ 1.5 billion . In 2017, he was correct in anticipating that the value of bitcoin would exceed $ 10,000. By 2022, he believes that the value of the cryptocurrency will reach $ 250,000. “The heroes of cryptocurrencies identified a technology that can intervene in the great monopoly and transform the world,” he said in an interview with Forbes .