The Cryptocurrency craze has made a select group of individuals really, really rich. Now we know who they are, thanks to Forbes.
Forbes compiled a list of the richest crypocurrency moguls for their February 28, 2018 issue. To make the top 10 cut, a net worth of $350 million or more was required. The average age of Forbes top crypto-zillionaires is only 42, compared to the average age of 67 for Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans.
"Our first-ever Crypto Rich list provides a snapshot of a pivotal moment, part of the transparency needed to pull crypto away from its provenance as an unknown currency," said Forbes Media Chief Content Officer Randall Lane.
Forbes' top ten:
| Name | Title | Crypto net worth |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chris Larsen | Co-founder, Ripple | $7.5bn - $8bn |
| 2. Joseph Lubin | Co-founder, Ethereum and founder at Consensys | $1bn - $5bn |
| 3. Changpeng "CZ" Zhao | CEO, Binance | $1.1bn - $2bn |
| 4. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss | Co-founders, Winklevoss Capital | $900m-$1.1bn each |
| 5. Matthew Mellon | Individual investor | $900m - $1bn |
| 6. Brian Armstrong | CEO, Coinbase | $900m - $1bn |
| 7. Matthew Roszak | Co-founder, BIoQ and founder at Tally Capital | $900m - $1bn |
| 8. Anthony Di Iorio | Co-founder at Ethereum and founder at Jaxx and Decentral | $750m - $1bn |
| 9. Brock Pierce | Chairman, Bitcoin Foundation and advisor at Block.One | $700m - $1bn |
| 10. Michael Novogratz | CEO, Galaxy Digital | $700m - $1bn |
Rounding out spots 11 through 19 are these individuals:
- Brendan Blumer: CEO, Block.one
- Age 31, $600-700M
- Dan Larimer: Chief Technology Officer, Block.one
- Age 35, $600-700M
- Valery Vavilov: CEO, Bitfury
- Age 38, $500-700M
- Charles Hoskinson: Cofounder, Etherium, OIHK
- Age 30, $500-600M
- Brad Garlinghouse: CEO, Ripple
- Age 47, $400-500M
- Barry Silbert: CEO, Digital Currency Group
- Age 41, $400-500M
- Vitalik Buterin: Creator of Etherium
- Age 24, $400-500M
- Tim Draper: Founder, Draper Associates
- Age 59, $350-500M
- Song Chi-Hyung: CEO, Dunamu, Founder, Upbit
- Age 38, $350-500M
Since the beginning of 2017, the aggregate value of the 1500 crypto-assets has ballooned to a whopping $550 billion. This amounts to an average 14,409 percent price increase of the three biggest cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Etherium, and Ripple.
According to Forbes, "we based our numbers on estimated holdings of cryptocurrencies (a few provided proof), post-tax profits from trading crypto-assets and stakes in crypto-related businesses, and locked in our estimates using prices on Jan. 19, 2018."
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