The past few years have been wild for cryptocurrencies and the awareness around it. Amid all the hype around NFTs, metaverse, blockchain gaming, and decentralised finance, several new names have emerged as the biggest money makers within the crypto ecosystem.
From Changpeng Zhao and Michael Novogratz to Brian Armstrong and Tyler Winklevoss, here’s a list of the top 7 crypto billionaires in the world in 2023:
Changpeng Zhao – $13.1 billion
Changpeng Zhao, also called ‘CZ’, is a Chinese-Canadian business executive and the man behind Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. As per the recent Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Changpeng Zhao has been ranked as the 136th wealthiest man on earth, with an estimated net worth of $13.1 billion as of December 2022.
Chris Larsen – $2.5 billion
Chris Larsen is an angel investor and a corporate executive. Born in 1960, he is known for having co-founded many Silicon Valley technology firms – including one that utilized peer-to-peer financing. In 1996, Chris Larsen co-founded the online mortgage lender E-Loan. As per reports, in 2000, the market value of the E-Loan was projected to be $1 billion.
Chris Larsen’s estimated net worth has been valued at $2.5 billion as of December 2022. That’s not all, he was ranked the world’s 214th wealthiest billionaire according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires’ list.
Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss – $1.4 billion each
Born in 1981, Olympic rower and cryptocurrency investor Cameron Howard Winklevoss decided to start the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange and Winklevoss Capital Management with his brother, Tyler Winklevoss. They joined hands with Divya Narendra, a fellow Harvard student and co-founded HarvardConnection which was later renamed ConnectU.
Forbes calculated that each twin had $1.4 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in January 2021.
Tim Draper – $1.2 billion
Timothy Cook Draper, American venture capitalist founded Draper Venture Network, Draper Associates, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Draper University, and Draper Goren Holm. He invested in Baidu, Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, AngelList, SolarCity, Ring, Twitter, DocuSign, Coinbase, Robinhood, Ancestry.com, Twitch, Cruise Automation, and Focus Media.
Draper supports decentralization and Bitcoin. His net worth is estimated to be $1.2 billion in 2023, and he was ranked among the top 20 richest crypto billionaires.
Michael Novogratz – $1.5 billion
Michael Edward Novogratz, an American investor, has been at the helm of Fortress Investment Group. At present, he serves as CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners. This company specializes in cryptocurrency investments. In 2017, he claimed that 20% of his net worth was in Bitcoin and Ethereum. He has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion net worth. Michael Novogratz was ranked #317 on the Forbes 400 in September 2007.
Brian Armstrong – $2.4 billion
Brian Armstrong is a business executive and investor who is the CEO of Coinbase. In 2012, Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam created Coinbase to provide a platform for trading bitcoin and other virtual currencies. In 2018, the company was valued at $8.1 billion in a fundraising round, and in December 2020, it filed with the SEC to float through a direct listing.
In 2022, Coinbase’s market valuation increased to $85B and Brian Armstrong’s net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $2.4 billion.