Top 15 Richest People In The Crypto Industry

Cryptocurrency is described as a disruptive technology. Typically this means that it is disrupting industries like the finance industry, as well as existing technologies. But it has also had a significant impact on some peoples’ personal wealth.

While Elon Musk and Donald Trump might be two of the names you first associate with cryptocurrency, neither make the list of richest people in crypto. Musk is not directly involved in the industry and Trump’s estimated $2.5 billion fortune has been made through trust funds and real estate.

Cryptocurrency has created vast fortunes and it, along with the blockchain technology that underpins it, can be seen in a lot of industries. The finance industry has been an obvious benefactor, with banks and other financial institutions getting involved in some way, while casinos like Lucky Block are also embracing the new technology. Crypto casinos offer enhanced privacy and security, as well as anonymity and generous bonuses, and they have likely made some early industry adopters a lot of money.

1. Changpeng Zhao

Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, started his entrepreneurial career in 2005 when he launched Fusion Systems, providing high-frequency trading platforms for stockbrokers. Having first heard of Bitcoin during a poker game in 2013, CZ sold his apartment in Shanghai and invested everything in Bitcoin.

Binance launched in 2017 and is now the world’s largest crypto exchange by global trading volume. Despite pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges, paying $200 million in fines, and being forced to stand down as the CEO of the exchange, CZ is still worth an estimated $33 billion, thanks to his approximate 90% stake in Binance.

2. Brian Armstrong

While Binance is the biggest exchange in global volume, Coinbase is considered the largest in the US. It was co-founded by Brian Armstrong, with Fred Ehersam in 2013, and, despite selling nearly $200 million of stock in Coinbase, Armstrong still retains an 18% stake, worth approximately $11.2 billion.

Coinbase’s value rocketed following the recent US election, as the market expects further regulation following Trump’s victory, and Armstrong’s net worth rose by approximately $2 billion as a result of this increase. Other exchanges likely saw increases, too, but because Coinbase is publicly listed and is heavily entrenched in the US crypto industry, it saw some of the biggest gains.

3. Giancarlo Devasini

Stablecoins act as a bridge between cryptocurrency or blockchain and fiat currencies. They are tied to the value of tangible assets, so they do not face the same volatility as the likes of Bitcoin. They offer appeal to banks and governments because of this lack of volatility combined with the low-cost, fast transactions they offer.

USD Tether is the world’s largest stablecoin and the third-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $300 billion. Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, has a nearly 50% stake in Tether, which gives him a net worth of more than $9 billion.

4. Michael Saylor

While a lot of names on this list have made their fortunes through establishing exchanges and other Bitcoin businesses, Michael Saylor is different. His company, MicroStrategy has been around since the 1990s but it pivoted to become a Bitcoin investment company in recent years.

Saylor is also known to hold more than 15,000 Bitcoins personally, which he bought for an average of less than $10,000 each. He has seen the highest percentage increase in his net worth of all the names on this list and is now worth an estimated $4.4 billion.

5. Paolo Ardoino

After Devasini, Paolo Ardoino likely holds the second-largest stake in Tether and is CEO of the company. His 20% stake is worth just under $4 billion, earning him a place on this list. Ardoino started out as a software developer for Bitfinex, Tether’s sister company, and previously worked as a programmer.

Ardoino started programming at the age of eight and founded Fincluster in 2013. He worked with the mayor of Lugano, Switzerland, to accept crypto as municipal payments, and also helped with El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin. El Salvador is currently the only country in the world that accepts cryptocurrency as legal tender.

6. Jean-Louis van der Velde

Another name with connections to Tether is Jean-Lous van der Velde. The former CEO of the stablecoin company holds roughly the same amount as Ardoino and therefore has a similar net worth of $3.9 billion.

Van der Velde is now CEO of Bitfinex and he has retained an advisory position with Tether, meaning he still has strong links to the company he once fronted.

7. Chris Larsen

Ripple is the 7th largest cryptocurrency thanks to a $37 billion market capitalization. It was founded in 2012, by Chris Larsen, to offer fast, inexpensive cross-border payments using its native XRP coin. Since then, Ripple has forged strong connections with banks and other major institutions around the world, and there was a time when the market strongly believed it would become the next Visa.

Ripple continues to develop and grow, but Larsen is no longer at the helm. However, his 18% stake in Ripple and nearly 3 billion XRP tokens give him a net worth of $3.2 billion.

8. Fred Ehrsam

Along with Brian Armstrong, Fred Ehrsam co-founded Coinbase in 2012. Unlike Armstrong, though, he left the company in 2017, although he does retain 5% of its stock.

A year after departing Coinbase, Ehrsam co-founded the crypto investment firm Paradigm. Paradigm has more than $8 billion in crypto assets.

9. Matthew Roszak

A lot of investors dream of turning relatively meager investments into millions. For Matthew Roszak, that dream became reality. He was an early Bitcoin believer who bought his first cryptocurrencies in 2010. This was so early in Bitcoin’s development that it didn’t really have a market value, but it was estimated to be worth less than one-tenth of a cent at the time.

Having recently surpassed the $80,000 mark, that represents a staggering return on Roszak’s early bet. He now has an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion and is head of a blockchain startup called Bloq, investing in blockchain startups.

10. Jed McCaleb

Jed McCaleb has been heavily involved in cryptocurrency since 2010. He created the Mt. Gox exchange, which at one time was the single biggest Bitcoin exchange and handled more than 70% of all Bitcoin transactions. However, after his credentials were stolen and used to steal 2,000 Bitcoins from users, the exchange folded. Fellow founder, Mark Karpeles faced a suspended prison sentence for falsifying records.

Following the collapse of Mt. Gox, McCaleb went on to co-found Ripple in 2012 but he left the company over disagreements with other founders before establishing Ripple competitor Stellar in 2014. His net worth is estimated at $2.9 billion after he sold his XRP holdings.

11=. Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss

The Winklevoss twins are famous for having sued Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole the idea for Facebook from them. They received a share of the $65 million agreed payout, using some of this to invest in Bitcoin when it was still in its infancy.

The pair also own 75% of the Gemini crypto exchange and while the exchange has shed a lot of its value due to the threat of government lawsuits, the twins still have an estimated value of $2.7 billion each.

13. Mike Novogratz

Mike Novogratz has a long history of working in investment, and it is through Bitcoin investment that he has amassed a fortune of approximately $2.5 billion.

He invested in Bitcoin early and subsequently went on to found Galaxy Digital Holdings, which he still runs today. The crypto investment company holds approximately $6 billion in crypto assets and Novogratz’s stake is worth an estimated $2 billion giving him a total net worth of $2.5 billion.

14. Stuart Hoegner

Stuart Hoegner has made his crypto fortune primarily thanks to a 13% stake in Tether, for whom he has served as general counsel: a position he also held for Tether’s sister company, Bitfinex.

Before that, he set up the Gaming Counsel Professional Corporation, which was a law firm that specifically worked for online gambling and cryptocurrency clients. Hoegner has also held positions at Ernst & Young. His 13% stake in Tether has helped give Hoegner a net worth of $2.5 billion, which is roughly the same as Donald Trump’s estimated fortune.

15. Tim Draper

Tim Draper is another early Bitcoin investor to make the list. One particularly noteworthy investment was his purchase of 29,656 Bitcoins that were seized by U.S. marshalls after they shut down the Silk Road black market. Draper paid $18.7 million for the coins, which are now worth around $2.5 billion following Bitcoin’s post-election rise.

The venture capitalist has founded Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper University, Draper Venture Network, and Draper Associates, as well as Draper Goren Holm, and has invested in companies including Hotmail, Baidu, Tesla, Skype, and Twitch.