Here are the 11 richest crypto billionaires in the world

Forbes has published the list of the richest men in the universe in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and other cryptocurrencies.

 

The list includes several founders of some of these crypto-coins and the CEOs of some companies dedicated to the business that revolves around them. To date, it is estimated that there are approximately 1,500 cryptocurrencies in the world, with an aggregate market value of over $ 550 billion.

This estimate, however, undergoes many variations, as has been evident in the weeks when Bitcoin has lost more than 40% of its value. Despite the growing doubts about the existence of a bubble around most of these cryptocurrencies, it seems clear that the blockchain, the underlying technology, is destined to remain and transform all sectors of the economy.

Below we review the list of the 11 richest crypto millionaires in the world, along with their fortunes.
Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple: $ 7.5 billion

Ripple

According to Forbes, Larsen is the richest man in the cryptocurrency industry. The magazine estimates it reached about $ 20 billion in cryptocurrencies at the beginning of 2018, a figure that, however, fell by 65% ​​due to the market crash. Larsen is a well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneur who in 2012 became co-founder of Ripple Labs, the company that developed Ripple (XRP), a cryptocurrency, which grew 36,000% last year and many analysts suggest as an alternative. to Bitcoin for its links with banking entities such as UBS or Banco Santander.

Read also: The topten of cryptocurrencies, in order of growth. Bitcoin is only eighth, the champion is Ripple (+ 35,000%!)
Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum: $ 5 billion

Flickr / Lyft

Lubin is the co-founder of Ethereum, a decentralized platform that enables the creation of blockchain-based peer smart contracts.

Its cryptocurrency, Ether, has become another of the main alternatives to Bitcoin and one of the most interesting for those looking to make money with crypto-money.

This Canadian entrepreneur is also the founder of ConsenSys, a company dedicated to developing decentralized blockchain-based software and applications that already has over 470 employees.
Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, CEO of Binance: $ 2 billion

Seven months ago, Binance didn’t even exist. Today, this cryptocurrency exchange platform has over 1.4 billion transactions per second and has attracted over six million users, according to Zhao in an interview with Forbes.
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of Winklevoss: $ 1 billion (each)

Brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss along with Virgin Galactic CEO Richard Branson. Winklevoss Capital

In mid-December the Wiklevoss twins became the first Bitcoin billionaires thanks to a series of investments in the cryptocurrency that includes the creation of a tool to track the price of Bitcoin or the Gemini exchange rate.

Their story inspired the plot of “The Social Network”, David Fincher’s film. These two young men, who were finalists at the 2008 Olympic Games (in rowing, 2 without), accused Zuckerberg of stealing the idea of ​​Facebook from them.
Matthew Mellon, private investor: $ 1 billion

Matthew Mellon (left) Getty Images / David M. Benett

Mellon’s story filled dozens of pages in American newspapers when he headed the New York Republican Party Finance Committee and his drug addiction problems.

Now, however, he is experiencing a second golden phase as a cryptocurrency investor. “We need to live in a more transparent and free democracy,” said Mellon a few years ago, who had pointed to Bitcoin as the solution.

His vision appears to have changed in recent years as he ditched some of his early cryptocurrency investments and everything he had in Bitcoin to invest in Ripple.

Read also: What if it’s crypto-euro? The birth of national cryptocurrencies could put Bitcoin in check
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase: $ 900 million

Getty Images / Anthony Harvey

Armstrong is co-founder and current CEO of Coinbase, which has become one of the largest companies revolving around the virtual currency ecosystem. It is a US exchange, which has been operating since 2012 and through which it is possible to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin via credit or debit card or bank transfer.

Reports in the specialized media indicate that Coinbase had revenues of 1 billion dollars in 2017 thanks to the explosion of operations in the virtual currency market.

 

Matthew Roszak, co-founder of BloQ: $ 900 million

 

Roszak was one of the first investors in the Initial Currency Offerings (ICOs) of cryptocurrencies such as Mastercoin, Factom and Maidsaif. He is also co-founder and president of BloQ, a business software company offering blockchain-based solutions, founding partner of Tally Capital, a private investment firm also focused on this new technology that hides behind cryptocurrencies.
Anthony Di Iorio, co-founder of Ethereum: $ 750 million

 

At 43, many people consider Di Iorio a visionary. He was one of the founding fathers of Ethereum and currently holds the position of CEO in two companies: Jaxx, a digital wallet that can store several cryptocurrencies in one place, and KryptoKit, which has developed a web extension with which payments can be made via Bitcoin on any web page in a simple way.

“We are moving from the information age to the value age,” Di Iorio said in line with a speech that places blockchain as the main driver of transformation of all types of industries.
Brock Pierce, president of the Bitcoin Foundation: $ 700 million

 

Pierce has a film background. His face may be familiar to more than one reader as when he was still a child he appeared in several Hollywood films such as “A Plague in the White House” or “We are the best” and in several commercials.

As a teenager he became an entrepreneur, when in 1998 he helped create the Digital Entertainment Network, a network that dedicated itself to the production and distribution of original videos over the Internet to a very specific part of the population, an idea not too far from what would have applied YouTube and which during the dotcom bubble attracted investment from giants like Microsoft or Dell.

In the 2000s he created a giant of the gaming universe, Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), which functioned as a kind of black market where players could purchase video game assets such as World of Warcraft that were generated by the company’s own employees. .

In recent years, it has become one of the most authoritative voices within the cryptocurrency universe. In 2014 he was appointed president of the Bitcoin Foundation and is also a founding partner of one of the most active venture capital firms within this sector, Blockchain Capital.

Read also: Bitcoin: scam or new Eldorado? Everything we know about cryptocurrency that is driving the world crazy
Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital: $ 700 million

 

Novogratz is a well-known American investor and hedge fund manager. He was a Goldman Sachs partner of the investment management company Fortress Investment Group. According to Forbes, he started investing in cryptocurrencies in 2013 and has amassed much of his fortune thanks to Ethereum.

In all these years Novogratz has not hesitated to describe the situation of Bitcoin as a bubble, while showing its determination to make the most possible profits from its investment in cryptocurrencies.