The year 2022 saw losses for cryptocurrency and entrepreneurs in this sector. In a year of extreme turmoil, with crashes, crises, bankruptcies, massive devaluations, fraud and even arrests, the 17 richest investors and founders of cryptocurrency together have lost about $116 billion (R$601 billion) in personal wealth since March, according to estimates. Forbes.
Moreover, 15 of them lost more than half of their wealth in the past nine months. Ten more have lost their billionaire status entirely, according to Forbes.
Changpeng Zhao – Binance
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the billionaire Binance CEO, for example, has lost 93% of his net worth. According to Forbes estimates, nine months ago, CZ had $65 million in net worth and is now worth about $4.5 billion. For these calculations, Forbes takes into account that CZ has an estimated 70% stake in Binance.
Although still the richest in the industry, Czechoslovakia has a lot to lose, according to Forbes. This is because Binance, the exchange under his leadership, is the subject of investigations by authorities in Europe and the US over allegations of facilitating money laundering and other financial crimes. Binance denies any wrongdoing.
“We are a unique organisation, we have no loans from any other organisation,” said CZ. “We will prove that all FUD [medo, incerteza e dúvida] This is a mistake.”
Sam Bankman-Fried – FTX and Alameda Research
The Binance CEO was also in some way involved in the collapse of FTX – Binance’s rival exchange – in November. Before FTX filed for bankruptcy, CZ tweeted that Binance would sell its entire stake in FTX’s FTT token. This and other evidence of a crisis with the stock exchange led to a rush of withdrawals and resulted in the stock market crashing.
The platform’s “bankruptcy” caused its founder, former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, to lose his entire fortune. According to Forbes, the SBF net worth fell from $24 billion in March to zero. The CEO has become the second richest person in cryptocurrency. But now he faces multiple fraud allegations and is bankrupt.
Barry Silbert – Cryptocurrency Group
Barry Silbert, the head of Digital Currency Giant Group (DCG), also lost his entire fortune. Silbert’s net worth has dropped from $3.2 billion to zero, according to Forbes.
According to Reuters sources, one of DCG’s main assets, Genesis Global Capital’s crypto-lending unit, owes creditors at least $1.8 billion.
“Forbes puts the current value of Silbert’s 40% stake in DCG at approximately $0. Silbert’s personal investments cannot be determined,” the news outlet said.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss – Gemini
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Gemini billionaires also lost a large chunk of their fortune in this “crypto winter.” According to Forbes, the brothers’ net worth has dropped by more than 72%, from $4 billion in March to $1.1 billion now.
Brian Armstrong – Queen’s Rule
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has also seen his shares vanish. Forbes estimates that Armstrong lost 75% of his net worth, which was $6 billion in March and is now $1.5 billion. Coinbase shares are down 64% since August and more than 95% since its $100 billion initial public offering in April 2021, wiping out much of Armstrong’s fortune.
Ripple executives
On the other hand, Jed McCaleb, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency company Ripple, has managed to keep a good portion of his wealth. In March, he had assets of $2.5 billion and today that value is $2.4 billion.
But who failed to do the same was Chris Larsen, the other founder and chairman of Ripple. More than $2 billion has been lost this year, due to the XRP price drop. His net worth decreased from $4.3 billion to $2.1 billion.
10 You lose billionaire status
Finally, those who have lost their billionaire status are: SBF and Gary Wang from FTX; DCG’s Barry Silbert; Nikhil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau from Alchemy; David Fenzer and Alex Atallah from The Open Sea; Coinbase’s Fred Ehrsam; and Michael Saylor and Tim Draper on their bitcoin fortunes.
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