Forbes details crypto billionaires' huge losses
2 Min Read
Reports suggest that the combined losses of affluent digital currency promoters totaled $110 billion.
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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao answers a question during a Zoom meeting interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021 (AP)
Crypto billionaires have lost a total of $110 billion during the past twelve months, registering an enormous yearly decline of 75%, according to Forbes estimates published earlier this week.
According to the magazine, the combined wealth of the world's richest crypto holders was around $140 billion in 2022, but a year of fraud allegations, government lawsuits, and investigations, as well as falling asset valuations, pushed their collective worth to less than $30 billion as of March 10, 2023.
The steep decline in fortunes also set the number of crypto billionaires dropping from an all-time high of 19 recorded last year to only nine last month.
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Co-founder and chief executive of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform Binance, Changpeng Zhao, retained the title of the world’s number one crypto billionaire. His fortune reportedly amounted to $10.5 billion, down from $65 billion in 2022.
He was followed by Jed McCaleb, co-founder of blockchain projects Stellar and Ripple and developer of the controversial bitcoin exchange MtGox, who has a net worth of $2.4 billion, down from $2.5 billion last year.
CEO of cryptocurrency exchange site Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, and Chris Larsen, co-founder of financial firm Ripple, tied for third place in the poll. Their fortunes totaled $2.2 billion, down from $6.6 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively, from $4.3 billion.
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Nikil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau, cofounders of Alchemy, were placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Their net worth was $1.8 billion each, down from $2.4 billion each in 2022.
The fortunes of Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, weighed in at seventh and eighth in the ranking, totaling $1.2 billion each, down from $4 billion each.
A long-time supporter of cryptocurrencies and co-founder of the Chicago blockchain technology business Bloq was named ninth wealthiest, with his net worth falling from $1.4 billion in 2022 to $1.1 billion this year.
