The American business magazine Forbes recently published its documentation of the world’s richest billionaires for 2021. According to the list, which is published every March, there are currently 12 billionaires working directly in the cryptocurrency industry, and the list of crypto-billionaires is three times larger than last year.
Current list of crypto billionaires
Since March 1987, Forbes has been publishing a list of the world’s richest billionaires for all to see. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, then a Japanese businessman and real estate tycoon, was the richest man in 1987 with an estimated fortune of about $20 billion. Since then, Forbes has used about 50 journalists every year to find and track down the world’s richest people. In 2021, Jeff Bezos of Amazon will be the richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of $177 billion. Bezos was the first person on earth to be placed on the list of centimillionaires by Forbes.
Bezos is followed by Dogecoin fan (DOGE) and Tesla CEO Elon Musk with 151 billion. Then there’s Bernard Arnault and his family, who own companies like Sephora and Louis Vuitton, with assets of about $150 billion. These three are followed by Bill Gates ($124 billion) of Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg ($97 billion) of Facebook. By 2021, Forbe’s list of billionaires includes 12 crypto billionaires directly related to the digital currency industry. Elon Musk may be considered a crypto billionaire, but most would say he is more of a supporter than someone who has infiltrated the blockchain industry.
From top to bottom and left to right: Sam Bankman-Fried, Brian Armstrong, the Winklevoss twins, Chris Larsen, Michael Saylor, Jed McCaleb, Fred Hersham, Chan-Peng Zhao (CZ), Barry Silbert, Matthew Roszak and Tim Draper.
Another person not mentioned among the 2021 crypto billionaires is Satoshi Nakamoto. At the current exchange rate, Nakamoto could be worth more than $59 billion. The 12 crypto billionaires on this year’s list either run digital currency exchanges or are venture capitalists who invest heavily in crypto startups. Forbes notes that FTX Exchange CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is the richest crypto billionaire with $8.7 billion. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is the second richest man with about $6.5 billion. The next two people are the Winklevoss twins, founders of the Gemini exchange, who are worth about $6 billion combined.
Several changes this year could increase the list of crypto billionaires in 2022.
Ripple Lab’s co-founder Chris Larsen comes in fourth with assets of $3.5 billion. Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor is listed for $2.3 billion. Another co-founder of Ripple is also mentioned in Forbes’ list of billionaires for 2021, as Jed McCaleb is valued at around $2 billion. Coinbase co-founder Fred Hersham has about $1.9 billion, and ChangPeng Zhao (CZ) of Binance has exactly the same amount as Hersham.
The final three people on the list are Barry Silbert of Digital Currency Group ($1.6 billion), Matthew Roszak of Bloq ($1.5 billion) and noted venture capitalist Tim Draper. At the same time, there may even be a few cryptocurrencies that don’t make the Forbes billionaire list.
Recently, in an interview with Angie Lau of Forkast News, Roger Wehr addressed the lack of a list and said it may not be accurate. Additionally, Wehr said that if several of the companies he has invested in go public, he expects to have several billion dollars of capital, $2 billion of which will be spent on the Bitcoin Cash network and spreading the word.
It will be interesting to see what the 2022 list looks like, which the American Business Journal prepared and published specifically because of the number of cryptographers on the list. By then, the size of the crypto economy could be much larger, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) bitcoin could be approved, and companies like Coinbase could go public much more frequently. These three factors will lead to many more crypto billionaires in the coming year if implemented.
How about the 2021 crypto billionaires on this year’s list? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Tags in this story
Billionaires 2021, Barry Silbert, Bernard Arnaud, Bill Gates, Brian Armstrong, Changpeng Zhao, Chris Larsen, crypto-billionaires, Elon Musk, Forbes Billionaires, Fred Hersham, Jed McCaleb, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Matthew Roszak, Michael Saylor, Roger Wehr, Sam Bankman-Fried, Satoshi Nakamoto, Tim Draper, Winklevos twins
Photo credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Denial: This article is for information only. It is not a direct offer or invitation to buy or sell, nor is it a recommendation or endorsement of a product, service or company. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author shall be liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services referred to in this article.
frequently asked questions
Who will be the 10 richest people in the world in 2020?
The common knowledge is a list of…
How many crypto billionaires are there?
Right now there could be as many as 100,000 bitcoin millionaires. According to the cryptocurrency tracking company, bitinfocharts, there are currently up to 100,000 people who have $1 million or more stashed in bitcoins. That’s up from 25,000 bitcoin millionaires three months ago.
How many billionaires will the world have in 2020?
By 2020, 412 billionaires will have been added worldwide, bringing the total number to 3,288. The world added 412 billionaires last year, bringing the total number of billionaires to a record 3,288, despite the Covid-19 turmoil, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2021, released Tuesday.