Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, took the first place in Forbes’ ranking of the richest people in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. The publication counted a record 19 billionaires in the industry.

With a fortune of $65 billion, Zhao is ranked 19th on the list of the richest people in the world. According to Forbes, it owns at least 70% of the largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume.

In second place in the ranking was last year’s leader – Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and chairman of FTX. In January, the stock market raised $400 million at a valuation of $32 billion. The entrepreneur’s personal wealth is $24 billion.

The first three were closed by Brian Armstrong, founder and CEO of Coinbase, with a fortune of $6.6 billion.

FTX co-founder and CTO Gary Wang is fourth with $5.9 billion.

The top five were closed by Chris Larsen – the co-founder and CEO of $4.3 billion Ripple was the only representative of the over-the-counter business in it.

The top 10 rankings of crypto billionaires also include:

• Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Gemini) – $4 billion each
• Song Chi Hyun (Upbit) – $3.7 billion
• Barry Silbert (Digital Currency Group) — $3.2 billion
• Jed McCaleb (Ripple and Stellar) — $2.5 billion

The co-founders of the largest marketplace in the OpenSea segment are included for the first time, thanks to the NFT boom that started in 2021. David Finzer and Alex Atall are each worth $2.2 billion.

They were ahead of the co-founders of the web3-platform Alchemy infrastructure Nikhil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau – $2.4 billion each.

Closed the list:

• Coinbase co-founder Fred Arsam — $2.1 billion;
• Kim Hyong Nion, vice president of Dunamu, operator of Upbit and co-owner of the exchange, $1.9 billion;
• Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy – $1.6 billion
• Bloq co-founder Matthew Roszak — $1.4 billion;
• Venture investor Tim Draper — $1.2 billion

Recall that in November 2021, Chinese Caijing journalists estimated Changpeng Zhao’s fortune at $ 90 billion.

In February, Binance invested $200 million in Forbes.