As the value of cryptocurrencies continues to rise, the fortune of investors and entrepreneurs in the industry continues to rise.
In the latest issue of China’s Hurun Research Institute’s report dated March 2, Brian Armstrong CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Coinbase, takes the number one spot on the list of global industry billionaires.
Armstrong Is Crypto King
Brian Armstrong is currently the world’s richest blockchain billionaire per new rankings. According to China’s Hurun Research Institute, Armstrong’s estimated wealth surged ten-fold over the past year to hit $11.5 billion ahead of Coinbase’s imminent initial public offering (IPO).
Coinbase officially announced its IPO plans in December 2020 in a draft filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It continues to lead as one of the most popular places to buy and sell crypto, processing about $3 billion crypto trades every day. Coinbase reportedly has a $90 billion stake in the cryptocurrency industry with $20 billion of its crypto-assets made in the last six months.
In 2018, Amrstrong pledged to donate a majority of his wealth to the greater good. He joined Warren Buffet and Bill Gates by signing the Giving Pledge, becoming the first cryptocurrency entreprenur to sign up. at the time, Armstrong’s networth was about $1.3 billion.
Hurun’s List Sees 11 New Faces
The Hurun report provides an overview of the richest global billionaires thriving in the blockchain industry. Also included in the report were 17 billionaires or industry entrepreneurs who made their fortune mainly from cryptocurrency as of January 2021.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alameda Research and FTX exchange followed closely with $10 billion. The report notes that this is the first time Bankman is making the list.
Another blockchain billionaire who made the list is Changpeng Zhao. Zhao, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the popular crypto exchange Binance, is ranked the third richest on the list. The billionaire’s total wealth was pegged at $8 billion, up more than 200% from last year. Zhao was named the richest crypto billionaire in 2020. This saw him beat Bitmain’s co-founder Micree Zhan Ketuan to the top.
Other major industry players that were featured in the popular Hurun’s report include Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, Stellar co-founder Jed McCaleb, Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, the Winklevoss brothers, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, and a couple of others. The list features a total of 11 new entrants in the list including major industry investor Tim Draper and Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz.
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