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Meet the 17 investors and entrepreneurs who made ten-digit fortunes on the blockchain
April 03, 2024
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The crypto winter is over. Bitcoin has more than doubled over the past 12 months, hitting an all-time high of $73,000 in March after the U.S. legalized bitcoin-pegged exchange-traded funds. The total value of all outstanding cryptocurrencies increased by 170%, adding some $1.6 trillion in market value over the past 12 months, according to CoinGecko.

That’s helped make at least 17 people crypto billionaires, according to Forbes’ 2024 World’s Billionaires list, up from nine crypto billionaires last year. These 17 investors and entrepreneurs are worth a collective $93 billion, between their estimated crypto asset holdings, publicly disclosed stock holdings and private assets. That’s more than double the $37 billion in collective crypto billionaire wealth last year.

For the third year running, Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, is crypto’s wealthiest person. Despite pleading guilty to U.S. money laundering charges in November, CZ, as he’s known, is now worth an estimated $33 billion, up from $10.5 billion last year. That makes him the biggest crypto gainer in dollar terms since last year and the 50th-wealthiest person in the world. The bulk of his fortune comes from his majority stake in Binance, which remains the industry’s largest global trading venue by volume.

Two of this year’s biggest gainers can thank investors in their publicly traded companies. Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, a software firm that has made heavy investments in bitcoin, is now worth an estimated $4.4 billion, compared to $760 million last year. Brian Armstrong, CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, is worth an estimated $11.2 billion, up from just $2.2 billion last year. Shares of Coinbase and MicroStrategy are each up more than fourfold over the past 12 months.

Making their debut on Forbes’ annual billionaires ranking are Giancarlo Devasini, Paolo Ardoino, Jean-Louis van der Velde and Stuart Hoegner, four large shareholders of Tether, a controversial but wildly profitable stablecoin issuer. Crypto’s three-comma club also includes familiar faces like the Winklevoss twins (of Facebook fame), venture capitalist and Nikki Haley booster Tim Draper, and Ripple cofounder and budding space entrepreneur Jed McCaleb.

Here are the richest people in crypto in 2024:

NET WORTHS ARE AS OF MARCH 8, 2024; COMPARISONS ARE BETWEEN MARCH 8, 2024 AND MARCH 10, 2023.

16. Joe Lau

Net worth: $1.5 billion (vs. $1.8 billion) | Source of wealth: Alchemy

16. Nikil Viswanathan

Net worth: $1.5 billion (vs. $1.8 billion) | Source of wealth: Alchemy

The two Stanford alumni cofounded Alchemy, a Web3 infrastructure provider whose developer suite powers crypto and blockchain projects, in 2020. Investors valued Alchemy at more than $10 billion in early 2022. Today the company is worth about $5.6 billion, based on secondary sales of private shares tracked by data provider Notice.co.


15. Tim Draper

Net worth: $2 billion (vs. $650 million) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin

Draper is a venture capitalist and early Bitcoin investor. In 2014, he bought 29,656 bitcoins confiscated by U.S. Marshals from the shuttered Silk Road black market for $18.7 million, or $632 per coin. They are now worth $2 billion. He has also made dozens of VC investments in companies ranging from Tesla to Theranos.


14. Stuart Hoegner

Net worth: $2.5 billion (vs. $1.2 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether

Stuart Hoegner has served as general counsel for Tether and its sister company Bitfinex since 2014, and he holds an estimated 13% stake. A Canadian certified accountant, Hoegner began his career at Ernst & Young before starting Gaming Counsel Professional Corporation, a boutique law practice that catered to online gambling and cryptocurrency clients. He was also previously a director of compliance and deputy general counsel at Excapsa Software, an online poker company that became embroiled in a software-facilitated cheating scandal.

Tether has been accused of facilitating money laundering for terrorist groups and criminal organizations, including human trafficking rings that run “Pig Butchering” crypto scams. (Tether says it follows “stringent Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering protocols” and “remains committed to expeditiously working with law enforcement” to identify criminal activity.) In 2021, Tether and its sister company Bitfinex paid $18.5 million to settle fraud charges with the New York Attorney General’s office, which alleged Tether had overstated its cash reserves.


13. Mike Novogratz

Net worth: $2.5 billion (returnee) | Source of wealth: Galaxy Digital Holdings, Bitcoin

An early bitcoin investor, Novogratz heads crypto investment firm and merchant bank Galaxy Digital Holdings, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and has about $6 billion in assets under management. His stake in the company is worth about $2 billion. Prior to his career in crypto, Novogratz worked on Wall Street. He spent a decade at Goldman Sachs and then led a macro-focused fund for private equity firm Fortress Investment Group, later becoming the firm’s president.


11. Tyler Winklevoss

Net worth: $2.7 billion (vs. $1.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin, Gemini

11. Cameron Winklevoss

Net worth: $2.7 billion (vs. $1.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin, Gemini

The Winklevoss twins, notorious for their dispute with Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s founding (as depicted in the 2010 movie The Social Network), have most of their wealth tied up in bitcoin, which they first bought in 2013, and are believed to have large stashes of ethereum and Filecoin as well. The Winklevii also control 75% of Gemini, the crypto exchange they founded together, which aims to compete with the likes of Coinbase and Binance. Outside investors last valued Gemini at over $7 billion in 2021, but Forbes now estimates that Gemini is worth less than $1 billion because its trading volumes have plummeted amid investor and government lawsuits stemming from the 2022 collapse of its interest-bearing program, Gemini Earn.


10. Jed McCaleb

Net worth: $2.9 billion (vs. $2.4 billion) | Source of wealth: XRP sales

Another early crypto pioneer, McCaleb created Mt. Gox, the first major bitcoin exchange, in 2010. He sold it a year later, before it was infamously hacked. Next, McCaleb cofounded Ripple in 2012, but soon left over disagreements with fellow founders. Most of his wealth comes from selling much of the original 9 billion XRP he pocketed as a Ripple cofounder. He sold the last of his coins in 2022. (McCaleb also founded Stellar, a Ripple competitor, in 2014.) These days, he spends his time and financial resources on Vast, a space exploration company that he’s backing.


9. Matthew Roszak

Net worth: $3.1 billion (vs. $1.1 billion) | Source of wealth: Bitcoin, Ethereum

An early investor in bitcoin, Roszak made his first purchases in 2010. Most of his wealth comes from early bets on cryptocurrencies, including ethereum and BNB, Binance’s native token. Roszak also runs Bloq, a blockchain startup that invests in other crypto ventures and consults on projects.


8. Fred Ehrsam

Net worth: $3.2 billion (vs. $930 million) | Source of wealth: Coinbase, Paradigm

Ehrsam founded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012 with Brian Armstrong. He left the company in 2017 but remains on the board and still owns about 5% of its stock. In 2018, he cofounded Paradigm, a cryptocurrency investment firm, which now has more than $8 billion in assets under management.

Coinbase generated $2.9 billion of revenue last year, down from $3.1 billion in 2022 and $7.8 billion in 2021, the last time crypto prices spiked. But the company has returned to profitability, generating net income of $100 million, compared to a $2.6 billion net loss in 2022.


7. Chris Larsen

Net worth: $3.2 billion (vs. $2.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Ripple, XRP

Larsen cofounded Ripple in 2012 to facilitate international payments using the XRP cryptocurrency. He stepped down as Ripple CEO in late 2016 but remains executive chairman. He holds an 18% stake in Ripple, which investors value at $3.8 billion, according to recent secondary market data shared with Forbes. He also has a sizable stash of XRP—over 2.8 billion tokens—and nearly $1 billion of cash and investments, per Forbes’ estimates, largely from prior XRP sales.


6. Jean-Louis van der Velde

Net worth: $3.9 billion (vs. $1.8 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether

As Tether’s former CEO, van der Velde operates as a figurehead responsible for maintaining Tether’s high-level strategic relationships with banks and regulators, and owns an estimated 20% of the company. He left the Netherlands in 1985 to attend university in Taiwan, and subsequently cofounded several IT and tech startups in Asia before joining Tether. He lives in Hong Kong.


5. Paolo Ardoino

Net worth: $3.9 billion (vs. $1.8 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether

Ardoino serves as Tether’s CEO, its public face and owns an estimated 20% of the company. He joined Tether’s sister company, Bitfinex, as a senior software developer in 2014. Ardoino previously worked in startups as a computer programmer.


4. Michael Saylor

Net worth: $4.4 billion (vs. $760 million) | Source of wealth: MicroStrategy, Bitcoin

Saylor is the biggest crypto billionaire gainer, in percentage terms, on this year’s list. Shares of MicroStrategy, the software firm Saylor started in the 1990s and refashioned into a bitcoin investment vehicle in recent years, are up nearly 500% from last year. The company now owns about 193,000 bitcoins, making it the largest corporate holder of bitcoin in the world, according to its CFO.

Then there’s Saylor’s personal bitcoin stash—Saylor said in 2021 he holds 17,732 bitcoins that he bought at an average price of $9,882 per coin—and he is in the process of cashing out about $200 million of MicroStrategy stock, which he announced at the beginning of the year.


3. Giancarlo Devasini

Net worth: $9.2 billion (vs. $4 billion in July) | Source of wealth: Tether

Devasini is the CFO and likely the largest individual shareholder of Tether, crypto’s largest issuer of stablecoins—a form of cryptocurrency that is pegged to the U.S. dollar or other hard currency and used as a medium of exchange. Over 100 billion Tether tokens have been minted. Buoyed by higher interest rates, Tether generated $6.2 billion in profit last year from the interest it generates on customers’ collateral. Devasini owns an estimated 47% stake in Tether, which Forbes values by applying the average price-to-earnings multiples of a group of publicly traded mid-tier banks and asset managers.


2. Brian Armstrong

Net worth: $11.2 billion (vs. $2.2 billion) | Source of wealth: Coinbase

Armstrong, who cofounded Coinbase in 2013 with Fred Ehrsam, is the company’s largest individual shareholder, with an 18% stake. The crypto exchange’s stock is up 50% year-to-date, and over three-fold since last year, giving it a market capitalization of nearly $60 billion. Since November, Armstrong has sold more than $170 million worth of Coinbase stock through an automated 10b5-1 trading plan.


1. Changpeng Zhao

Net worth: $33 billion (vs. $10.5 billion) | Source of wealth: Binance

Zhao, who goes by CZ, agreed to personally pay $200 million in fines last year to settle federal money laundering charges brought by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. (Binance agreed to pay an additional $4.5 billion.) He also agreed to step down as CEO of crypto exchange Binance and is barred from involvement with Binance for three years as part of his guilty plea. (Zhao’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 30). Yet it hardly left a dent in his fortune. His stake in Binance—estimated to be 90%, based on corporate documents and conversations with former employees—is worth some $32.5 billion.

Binance remains the largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume, generating an estimated $9 billion of revenue last year, according to Forbes’ analysis. To estimate Binance’s market value, Forbes applied the price-to-sales multiple of Coinbase, a publicly traded peer, then applied further discounts to account for Binance’s concentrated ownership, the possibility of further regulatory enforcement and key-man risks following CZ’s departure.

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Custom AI assistants that print money in your sleep? 🔜

The future of Crypto x AI is about to go crazy.

👉 Here’s what you need to know:

💠 'Based Agent' enables creation of custom AI agents
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👉 What this means for the future of Crypto:

1. Open Access: Democratized access to advanced trading
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3. AI Dominance: Est ~80% of crypto 👉txns done by AI agents by 2025

🚨 I personally wouldn't bet against Brian Armstrong and Jesse Pollak.

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IXS, in partnership with OpenTrade, has launched the BlackRock High-Yield Corporate Bond Vault—bringing real-world bond yields to DeFi. Here’s why this is a game-changer:

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https://www.ixs.finance/news/ixs-launches-blackrocks-high-yield-corporate-bond-vault

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The conversation touches on the spiritual implications of these discoveries and the potential for humanity to unlock advanced technologies and achieve higher consciousness.

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13:36 - Were giant trees real?
16:45 - Are fairies and gnomes real?
21:03 - What’s the purpose of the tunnels?
23:29 - Were pyramids stargates?
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Dubai regulator VARA classifies RWA issuance as licensed activity
Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) leads global regulatory framework - makes RWA issuance licensed activity in Dubai.

Real-world assets (RWAs) issuance is now licensed activity in Dubai.

~ Actual law.
~ Not a legal gray zone.
~ Not a whitepaper fantasy.

RWA issuance and listing on secondary markets is defined under binding crypto regulation.

It’s execution by Dubai.

Irina Heaver explained:

“RWA issuance is no longer theoretical. It’s now a regulatory reality.”

VARA defined:

- RWAs are classified as Asset-Referenced Virtual Assets (ARVAs)

- Secondary market trading is permitted under VARA license

- Issuers need capital, audits, and legal disclosures

- Regulated broker-dealers and exchanges can now onboard and trade them

This closes the gap that killed STOs in 2018.

No more tokenization without venues.
No more assets without liquidity.

UAE is doing what Switzerland, Singapore, and Europe still haven’t:

Creating enforceable frameworks for RWA tokenization that actually work.

Matthew White, CEO of VARA, said it perfectly:

“Tokenization will redefine global finance in 2025.”

He’s not exaggerating.

$500B+ market predicted next year.

And the UAE just gave it legal rails.

~Real estate.
~Private credit.
~Shariah-compliant products.

Everything is in play.

This is how you turn hype into infrastructure.

What Dubai is doing now is 3 years ahead of everyone else.

Founders, investors, ecosystem builders:

You want to build real-world assets onchain.

Don’t waste another year waiting for clarity.

Come to Dubai.

It’s already here.

 

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🎬Proof the Deep State Planned This War for Years🎬
Nation First outlines how the Israeli attack on Iran was planned by the Deep State and the Military Industrial Complex over 15 years ago.

Prepare to have your mind blown

~Namasté 🙏 Crypto Michael ⚡ The Dinarian

Dear friend,

What just happened in Iran wasn’t a surprise attack. It wasn’t a last-minute decision. It wasn’t even Israel acting alone.

It was a war plan written years ago — by men in suits, sitting in think tanks in Washington and New York. And yesterday, that plan was finally put into action.

Here’s the truth they don’t want you to know: this war was cooked up long before Trump ever became President — and it was designed to happen exactly this way.

Let’s start with what just happened.

Israel launched a massive, unexpected strike on Iran. They hit nuclear facilities. They killed military generals. They struck deep inside Iranian territory — and now the whole region is on edge, ready to explode into full-blown war.

The media is acting shocked. But I’m not. You shouldn’t be either.

Why?

Because we have the documents. They told us this was coming. Years ago.

Exhibit A: The Brookings Institution.

The Brooking Institution is a fancy name for what’s basically a war-planning factory dressed up as a research centre. Back in 2009, Brookings published a report called Which Path to Persia?

It laid out exactly how to get the U.S. into a war with Iran — without looking like the bad guy.

Here’s the sickest part:

“The United States would encourage — and perhaps even assist — the Israelis in conducting the strikes… in the expectation that both international criticism and Iranian retaliation would be deflected away from the United States and onto Israel.”

Let that sink in.

They literally suggested using Israel to start the war, so America could stand back and say, “Wasn’t us!”

They even titled a chapter of this report: “Leave It to Bibi” — naming Netanyahu as the guy to light the match.

Exhibit B: The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

The Council on Foreign Relations is an another Deep State operation. Also in 2009, CFR published a “contingency memothat laid out the whole military plan for an Israeli strike on Iran — step by step.

  • What routes the jets would fly (over Jordan and Iraq).

  • What bombs they’d use (the biggest bunker-busters in the U.S. arsenal).

  • Which Iranian sites to hit (Natanz, Arak, Esfahan).

  • And how Iran might respond (missiles, drones, threats to U.S. bases).

It’s like they had a time machine. Because those exact strikes just happened following the routes, likely using the bombs and hitting the sites that the CFR outlined.

Exhibit C: The Plot to Attack Iran by Dan Kovalik.

This one really blows the lid off.

US human rights lawyer and journalist Dan Kovalik, in his book The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran, shows how the CIA and Israel’s Mossad have been working together for decades — not just watching Iran, but actively sabotaging it. Killing scientists. Running cyberattacks. Feeding lies to the media to make Iran look like it’s always “six months away” from building a nuke.

He even reveals how they discussed false flag attacks — faking an Iranian strike to justify going to war. That’s not a conspiracy theory. That’s documented strategy.

And here’s where President Trump comes in.

Unlike the warmongers who wrote these plans, Trump wasn’t looking to bomb Iran. He wanted to talk. Negotiate. Make a deal — like he did with North Korea.

In fact, peace talks with Iran were just days away.

But someone didn’t want peace. Someone wanted war.

So Israel went in — just like the Brookings script said — and lit the fuse.

Trump didn’t authorise it. He didn’t want it. But they gazumped him. They went around him. And now, the peace he was trying to build has been blown to bits.

This was never about Iran being a threat. It was about keeping the war machine fed.

Think tanks, defence contractors, foreign lobbies — they don’t profit from peace. They thrive on tension. On fear. On war.

And now, thanks to them, the world’s one step closer to the edge.

If you’ve never trusted the mainstream media, you’re right not to.

If you’ve ever suspected there’s a shadowy agenda behind every war, you’re not paranoid.

You’re paying attention.

Because the documents are real. The war was planned. And the bombs are falling — right on schedule.

Pray for Iran’s civilians.

Pray for the Israelis caught in the crossfire.

Pray for a President who still wants peace.

And pray that we wake up before it’s too late.

Because the war has started.

But the truth has just begun to spread.

Until next time, God bless you, your family and nation.

Take care,

George Christensen

Source:

George Christensen is a former Australian politician, a Christian, freedom lover, conservative, blogger, podcaster, journalist and theologian. He has been feted by the Epoch Times as a “champion of human rights” and his writings have been praised by Infowars’ Alex Jones as “excellent and informative”.

George believes Nation First will be an essential part of the ongoing fight for freedom:

The time is now for every proud patriot to step to the fore and fight for our freedom, sovereignty and way of life. Information is a key tool in any battle and the Nation First newsletter will be a valuable tool in the battle for the future of the West.

— George Christensen.

Find more about George at his www.georgechristensen.com.au website.

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The Possible Impact Of USDC On The XRP Ledger And RLUSD
Key Points
  • It seems likely that USDC on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) boosts liquidity, benefiting XRP, though some see it as competition for RLUSD.
  • Research suggests both stablecoins can coexist, enhancing the XRPL ecosystem.
  • The evidence leans toward increased network activity being good for XRP, despite potential competition.

The recent launch of USDC on the XRP Ledger has sparked discussions about its impact on the ecosystem, particularly in relation to RLUSD, Ripple's own stablecoin. This response explores whether this development is more about competition for RLUSD or if it enhances liquidity on the XRPL, ultimately benefiting XRP.
 

Impact on Liquidity and XRP

The introduction of USDC, a major stablecoin with a $61 billion market cap, likely increases liquidity on the XRPL by attracting more users, developers, and institutions. This boost can enhance DeFi applications and enterprise payments, potentially driving demand for XRP, the native token used for transaction fees. While some may view it as competition for RLUSD, the overall effect seems positive for the XRPL's growth.
 

Competition vs. Coexistence with RLUSD

USDC and RLUSD cater to different needs: USDC appeals to those valuing regulatory compliance, while RLUSD, backed by Ripple, may attract users preferring ecosystem integration. Research suggests both can coexist, increasing options and fostering innovation, rather than purely competing.
 

Detailed Analysis of USDC on XRPL and Its Implications

The integration of USDC on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), announced on June 12, 2025, by Circle, has significant implications for the ecosystem, particularly in relation to RLUSD, Ripple's stablecoin launched in 2024. This section provides a comprehensive analysis, exploring whether this development is more about competition for RLUSD or if it enhances liquidity on the XRPL, ultimately benefiting XRP.
 

Understanding RLUSD and Its Role

RLUSD, Ripple's stablecoin, received approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) in 2024 and is designed to be fully backed by cash and cash equivalents, ensuring stability. It is available on both the Ethereum and XRP Ledger blockchains, aiming to enhance liquidity, reduce volatility, and serve cross-border payments. With a current market cap of $413 million, RLUSD is smaller than USDC's $61 billion but has regulatory credibility, particularly appealing to institutions.
 

Impact of USDC on the XRPL

The launch of USDC on the XRPL is a significant development, given its status as the second-largest stablecoin by market cap.
 
Key impacts include:
  • Liquidity Boost: USDC's integration can attract more users, developers, and institutions, increasing overall liquidity. This is crucial for DeFi applications, as Circle's announcement emphasizes its use in liquidity provisioning for token pairs and FX flows.
  • Increased Utility: USDC enhances the XRPL's utility for enterprise payments, financial infrastructure, and DeFi, potentially making it more attractive for global money movement and transparent settlements.
  • Regulatory and Institutional Appeal: As a regulated stablecoin issued by Circle, USDC can bring institutional users to the XRPL, aligning with Ripple's goals for regulated financial activities.
  • Network Growth: Supporting a widely recognized stablecoin like USDC on 22 blockchains, including the XRPL, increases the network's visibility and adoption, potentially driving more activity.

Competition vs. Complementarity with RLUSD

While USDC's launch could be seen as competition for RLUSD, the evidence suggests a more nuanced relationship:
  • Competition: Both are stablecoins on the XRPL, and USDC's larger market presence ($61 billion vs. RLUSD's $413 million) might attract users and developers away from RLUSD. However, competition can drive innovation, such as lower fees or better services, benefiting the ecosystem
  • Complementarity: Different stablecoins cater to different needs. USDC appeals to users valuing regulatory compliance and widespread adoption across multiple blockchains, while RLUSD, backed by Ripple, may attract those preferring ecosystem integration and regulatory approval from NYDFS. The XRPL can benefit from having multiple options, increasing liquidity and fostering a diverse ecosystem.
  • Coexistence Benefits: Research suggests that having multiple stablecoins enhances liquidity and provides users with more choices, potentially leading to higher network activity. For example, institutions might use USDC for global payments and RLUSD for specific XRPL-integrated applications, creating a symbiotic relationships.

Impact on XRP

The introduction of USDC, alongside RLUSD, is likely beneficial for XRP, the native token of the XRPL, for several reasons:
  • Increased Liquidity and Activity: Higher liquidity on the XRPL, driven by both stablecoins, can increase transaction volumes. XRP is used for transaction fees, with some fees burned, potentially reducing supply over time and increasing demand.
  • DeFi and Enterprise Use Cases: Both USDC and RLUSD enhance DeFi and enterprise applications, such as liquidity pools and cross-border payments, which can drive demand for XRP as a settlement token.
  • Network Growth: A more liquid and active XRPL is more attractive to developers and users, potentially leading to long-term growth for XRP, as increased utility can drive its value.
Expert analyses, such as those from u.today and ledgerinsights.com, suggest the launch is a "massive boost" for liquidity and adoption, with RLUSD also playing a significant role.
 

Comparative Analysis: USDC vs. RLUSD

To further illustrate, consider the following table comparing key attributes:
 
Given the evidence, it is more accurate to view the introduction of USDC on the XRPL as beneficial for liquidity, which is ultimately good for XRP, rather than solely as competition for RLUSD. The XRPL benefits from increased options, with both stablecoins enhancing liquidity, utility, and network growth. While some competition exists, the overall impact is positive, fostering a robust ecosystem that can drive demand for XRP. This conclusion aligns with expert analyses and community discussions, acknowledging the complexity of the stablecoin market within the XRPL.
 

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