Top Bitcoin millionaires around the world

Top Bitcoin millionaires around the world

In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto showed the world his latest creation under the name Bitcoin. His goal was to improve the current financial structure of traditional money, which is inflammatory and completely falls under the central bank's authority.

In the beginning, people laughed at this idea. How can we call something a currency if we can not touch it? The whole idea, in general, seemed too far-fetched, but there were people who believed in it, and they had various reasons for that. The facts show us that most of those people who believed in it at the beginning are now millionaires because they decided to invest in Bitcoin. 

With that being said, let’s take a look at some of those people, how they started and where they are now. 

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Changpeng Zhao

Date of Birth: 1977
Net Worth: 96 Billion USD
Nationality: American, Chinese
Background: Crypto

Zhao, commonly referred to as CZ, is the founder of Binance. When it comes to trading volumes, there is no exchange bigger than Binance. In January 2022, Bloomberg Billionaire Index said that Zhao’s net worth is currently $96 billion (This is not a valuation based on Forbes standards). This number is based on publicly available data. The amount of crypto that is in Zhao's private wallet is unknown, but it mostly consists of Bitcoin and BNB (Binance coin). Zhao's net worth saw unbelievable growth last year. At the start of 2021, Forbes estimated that his net worth was around $1.6 billion, and currently, it is listed as $17.4 billion.

Born in China, Zhao immigrated to Canada in the late 1980s when he was 13. He first found out about Bitcoin when he was playing poker with his friends. He immediately fell in love with the idea and went all-in on Bitcoin, even selling his apartment in 2014 for it. He started Binance in 2017, and today it handles transactions that sometimes exceed a billion dollars on a daily basis. Coinbase offers more coins and services than any other exchange company in the world. Bloomberg reported that in 2021 Binance generated revenue of $20 billion.

Zhao has also run into some problems. Binance has seen a lightning-quick leap, but was also put in the red zone by some governments and regulatory bodies, and is forced to operate without headquarters. Zhao himself welcomes regulations placed on crypto. He also said that he is planning to donate most of his wealth before he dies, as wealth is secondary to him, and he is more focused on development and innovation.

The Winklevoss Brothers

Date of Birth: 1981
Net Worth: 4.4 Billion USD each
Nationality: American
Background: Investments, Crypto 

Probably one of the most famous twins in the finance and crypto world, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are Harvard graduates who became famous through their lawsuit against Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. They argued that Zuckerberg stole the source code of their ConnectU website, which was the social media platform for Harvard students.

Most of the money that they received from this lawsuit was invested in crypto, Bitcoin in particular. This amount of investment in 2013 was unheard of, and it helped them to become the first billionaires in the crypto ecosystem when in 2017 Bitcoin prices skyrocketed. Currently, their net worth is approximately $4.4 billion.

Their crypto ventures do not end with investments. They also launched the crypto exchange platform Gemini, which after a 2021 round of fundraising is valued at $7.1 billion. They also launched the NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway, which is considered one of the most exclusive NFT marketplaces, where the most expensive NFT, The Merge, was sold.

Roger Ver

Date of Birth: 1979
Net Worth: 500 Million USD 
Nationality: American 
Background: Crypto, Investments 

CEO of Bitcoin.com, a website that provides Bitcoin wallets, news, and analysis. Ver was one of the first advocates of Bitcoin and its use. He started to invest in numerous Bitcoin-related startups which helped him to succeed in his crypto journey.

He was born in the hub of innovation, Silicon Valley, from where he was selling fireworks on eBay, without proper licenses, for which he served 10 months in jail. After leaving prison he moved to Japan and revoked his US citizenship. 

His net worth is currently $500 million as he still continues to advocate for Bitcoin and other cryptos. His nickname is “Bitcoin Jesus”. He also has a philanthropic side to him, as he has donated huge sums of money to charities around the world.

Rachel Siegel

Date of Birth: 1984
Net Worth: 2 Million USD 
Nationality: American
Background: Education, Crypto

Siegel was a substitute teacher, who lived in New York City in a small dark apartment where every window faced a brick wall. But now, after her smart investment in Bitcoin, she has become a millionaire.

Everything started in 2017 when she was invited to a crypto conference after-party by her friend. She recalls that she remembers walking into a room filled with people full of enthusiasm and passion for one shared subject.

After this, she started to invest weekly. These were small investments of about $25 as it was usually all she had left from her paycheck. 

After the late 2017 Bitcoin surge, she made a few million, but she does not share the exact amount. 

Currently, she has quit her teaching job and works as a crypto influencer.

Dave Carlson

Date of Birth: 1971
Net Worth: 350 Million USD 
Nationality: American
Background: Engineering, Crypto

Dave Carlson, unlike other Bitcoin millionaires who made their fortunes by investing in Bitcoin, made his money through mining Bitcoin and amassed a net worth of $350 million. He joined the crypto ecosystem in the early stages of 2010 as he started his mining operations from Washington. 

Before joining the crypto world, he worked as an engineer at Microsoft but soon found out about Bitcoin and saw huge potential in it, subsequently starting his Bitcoin mining business called MegaBigPower. At its peak, it is estimated that his company was earning a cool $8 million a month. Later, his company was acquired by Giga Watt and Carlson became its CEO.

Takeaway

The Crypto world is a new concept compared to other financial structures. But people believe that they won't be able to recreate the success of these people who joined the ecosystem at the early stages.

This is a misconception as the crypto world and Bitcoin are things that are just getting started and still have a lot of room for growth. We see numerous new developments and innovations each day in connection with Bitcoin and other cryptos, which means if approached smartly, the crypto world is still a profitable and good investment platform that will give us returns that we might not have imagined just a few years ago.

FAQs on Top Bitcoin Millionaires

Who owns the most Bitcoin?

Since blockchain prioritizes anonymity it is unknown exactly who holds the most Bitcoin. Some experts suggest that Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, holds the most Bitcoin - 750,000 Bitcoins to be exact. When it comes to public information, the business intelligence firm MicroStrategy is the one holding the most Bitcoin with 129,218BTC in total based on the latest reports.

How many people have made millions from Bitcoin?

There is no exact number as to how many Bitcoin millionaires there are, as there are a lot of people who don't disclose their crypto holdings. By some estimates, there are around 100,000 Bitcoin millionaires out there today.

Who is the youngest Bitcoin millionaire?

Sam Bankman-Fried is the youngest Bitcoin millionaire out there. He made millions in 2018-2019 when he was around 26-27 years old. Currently, he is the founder and CEO of the crypto exchange FTX.