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Cha-Ching! Forbes' List of Cryptocurrency's Richest People

A net worth of $350,000,000 was required to make the cut.

Cha-Ching! Forbes' List of Cryptocurrency's Richest People
Photo Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images

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.


Bitcoin.

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"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:

NameTitleCrypto net worth
1. Chris LarsenCo-founder, Ripple$7.5bn - $8bn
2. Joseph LubinCo-founder, Ethereum and founder at Consensys$1bn - $5bn
3. Changpeng "CZ" ZhaoCEO, Binance$1.1bn - $2bn
4. Tyler and Cameron WinklevossCo-founders, Winklevoss Capital$900m-$1.1bn each
5. Matthew MellonIndividual investor$900m - $1bn
6. Brian ArmstrongCEO, Coinbase$900m - $1bn
7. Matthew RoszakCo-founder, BIoQ and founder at Tally Capital$900m - $1bn
8. Anthony Di IorioCo-founder at Ethereum and founder at Jaxx and Decentral$750m - $1bn
9. Brock PierceChairman, Bitcoin Foundation and advisor at Block.One$700m - $1bn
10. Michael NovogratzCEO, 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

They've made some serious coin virtually overnight.

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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."