After a disastrous 2022 for cryptocurrencies, 2023 has brought a ray of light that looks set to end cryptocurrencies’ long winter. After a slow recovery 2024 once again brings Bitcoin to all caps It broke a historical record by reaching a price of $73,737.14 in March 2024.

This meteoric rise in price has allowed some millionaires who base their wealth on cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin in particular to add some zero to their assets.

Bitcoin Billionaires: Survivors of Crypto Winter

According to consulting firm Henley & Partners’ report on global trends in cryptocurrency-based wealth, only 40,500 people in the world have become millionaires by investing in Bitcoin. But only 22 of them have managed to break the 1 billion threshold, and only 17 have become rich enough to make Forbes’ list of millionaires for 2024.

These visionary investors have navigated the ups and downs of the market and now They have a collective wealth of $93 billionCompared to the 37,000 million added by nine billionaire investors for cryptocurrencies, which remains in 2023 after the loss fiasco in 2022.

We are on the verge of the Bitcoin halving, a scheduled event that occurs approximately every four years. During this event, the reward miners receive for verifying transactions is halved. In other words, the number of new Bitcoins produced is greatly reduced, thus limiting the Bitcoin supply and theoretically increasing its value in the long run.

The cryptocurrency market is complex and reacts to different influences, but using Bitcoin’s history is enough to dispel doubts about Bitcoin’s behavior after three previous “halvings”. All of them showed an upward trend in their prices, so Those who are billionaires today may become even more billionaires in a few years..

The first ‘halving’ took place in 2012, when the price of Bitcoin was around $12. After the halving, the price began to gradually rise until it reached its all-time high of $1,000 in 2013. The second halving occurred in 2016, when the cryptocurrency was trading around $650. Following the incident, the price experienced a significant increase again, reaching over $19,000 at the end of 2017, but there was a correction later.

The third ‘halving’ took place in 2020; the cost of one Bitcoin was approximately $9,000. Since then, the Bitcoin price has been much more up and down than in previous events, but by the end of the cycle the outcome was very similar, rising to an all-time high of over $73,000 in March.

The great wealth of cryptocurrencies

In the elite group of crypto billionaires, we find some names who have left an indelible mark on the cryptocurrency world, establishing major exchange platforms or being pioneers in such investments. All of this has shown that the digital revolution can translate into tangible wealth that carries more risk than certainty.

Changpeng Zhao (known as CZ)

The Binance founder tops the list with an estimated fortune of $33 billion, compared to $10.5 billion last year. Its majority stake on the Binance exchange propelled it to the top spot. The biggest fortune based on cryptocurrencies. The millionaire managed to maintain his position despite problems with the law, which forced him to leave the management of the largest foreign exchange platform and face a fine of more than $ 4.5 billion.

Brian Armstrong

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had better luck. The value of his fortune is estimated at $11.2 billion, compared to a predicted $2.2 billion in 2023. The millionaire owes most of this wealth to the incredible rise of Coinbase shares, whose value has more than quadrupled recently. although it has been facing serious problems in recent years. The founder’s control of 18% allowed him to amass a considerable fortune through this revaluation.

Giancarlo Devasini, Paolo Ardoino, Jean-Louis van der Velde and Stuart Hoegner

Although the fortunes of these millionaires vary depending on their percentage of shares, they all have one thing in common: Tether, the world’s largest cryptocurrency issuer. stablecoins.

Giancarlo Devasini is the largest shareholder, owning 47% of Tether, translating to an estimated fortune of $9.2 billion. Paolo Ardoino and Jean-Louis van der Velde respectively control 20% of the company, meaning their fortune is around $3.9 billion. The smallest piece of the stock pie belongs to Stuart Hoegner, who holds 13% of Tether shares, which generates a value of approximately $2.5 billion.

michael taylor

Saylor is the founder and CEO of MicroStrategy. The company claims to control approximately 193,000 Bitcoins. One of the largest institutional investors in Bitcoin in the world. The millionaire guaranteed that he had 17,732 Bitcoins in his possession in 2021, so his wealth is estimated at $ 4.4 billion.

Jed McCaleb

McCaleb is one of the pioneers of the cryptocurrency markets and the first exchange platform for Bitcoins, Mt. He founded Gox. He later founded Ripple and later its direct competitor, Stellar. Jed McCaleb is also in the club of cryptocurrency billionaires with an estimated fortune of $2.9 billion.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss

The Winklevoss twins have already become icons of Silicon Valley. The duo, known for their disagreement with Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook, base most of their wealth on investments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the Winklevosses control 75% of Gemini, the crypto exchange platform they founded. Brothers doubled their wealth Thanks to the abundance in recent months, it increased from 1,200 million in 2023 to 2,700 million in 2024 for each.

in Xataka | Cryptocurrencies: what are they, how do they work and what else are there besides Bitcoin?

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