FX.co ★ Forbes’ top 10 cryptocurrency billionaires

Chris Larsen (Cofounder, Ripple)

The palm was awarded to Chris Larsen with the crypto net worth of $7.5 billion-$8 billion. According to Forbes, it is the richest person in the world of cryptocurrency. Chris Larsen is a cofounder of Ripple, a digital asset that is the world’s 3rd most popular crypto. The market capitalization of Ripple exceeds $30 billion. Eight years ago, Larsen together with Jed McCaleb, the creator of the stellar currency trading platform, began implementing blockchain technology in international banking operations. Later, he developed the token of Ripple (XRP). In January 2018, the price of Ripple skyrocketed and the market capitalization totaled $141 billion.

Joseph Lubin (Co-founder, Ethereum; Founder, ConsenSys)

The second place was given to Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys, which serves as a venture production studio for the Ethereum ecosystem. Earlier, the owner of $1-$5 billions, worked for Goldman Sachs' private wealth management division. The co-founder of Ethereum supposed that the future belongs to blockchain technology and digital assets. At the end of 2013–at the beginning of 2014, Joseph Lubin together with Ethereum cofounders Anthony Di Iorio and Vitalik Buterin began investing in Ethereum. At the moment, Joseph Lubin holds a majority stake in ConsenSys. He is responsible for security audits, token launches, and other services to traditional companies.

Changpeng Zhao (CEO, Binance)

Changpeng Zhao occupies third place on the list of cryptocurrency billionaires. His net worth varies from $1 billion to $2 billion. Notably, he earned his capital more rapidly than other billionaires did. It took just six months. Changpeng Zhao founded Binance, a popular China’s crypto-exchange. It is one of the top ten global exchanges according to its trade volume. Earlier, Changpeng Zhao worked at OKCoin as chief technology officer and Bloomberg’s Tradebook. At the moment, Binance is known for its 1.4 million-transactions-per-second capability that has attracted 6 million users. Binance now supports about 120 coins. Over 25% of users perform transactions from the US.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Co-founders, Winklevoss Capital)

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were ranked fourth in the Forbes’ list. In 2015, the Winklevoss twins built the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. It is a lucrative New York-based cryptocurrency exchange where investors can buy and sell digital currencies. Today, the services provided by Gemini are available in Asia and Europe. It became one of the rivals of such crypto-exchanges as Kraken and Coinbase. At the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, the most popular digital assets are bitcoin and Ethereum. Both brothers are actively investing in the main cryptocurrencies. Analysts estimate their net worth from $900 million to $1.1 billion.

Brian Armstrong (CEO, Coinbase)

Brian Armstrong is the fifth among the crypto billionaires. He is a founder and CEO of Coinbase, the most popular entry point for cryptocurrency trading in the US that was launched in 2012. His fortune is estimated from $900 million to $1 billion. At the moment, Coinbase is the most popular platform for trading digital assets in the US. Users of the platform can exchange fiat money into cryptocurrencies. They can also buy bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin using their bank accounts. In August 2017, the Coinbase app became one of the most downloaded in AppStore on the US territory. In one month, the number of users jumped to 4.3 million.

Anthony Di Iorio (Co-founder, Ethereum; Founder of Jaxx and Decentral)

The sixth place was given to Anthony Di Iorio. He is a co-founder of the Ethereum token with a fortune between $750 million and $1 billion. He went to Ryerson University in Toronto to study marketing. However, he got interested in blockchain technology, in particular, in bitcoin. In 2012, Anthony Di Iorio met Ethereum's founding genius, Vitalik Buterin. A bit later, Di Iorio helped fund Ethereum's coding. By the moment, he has invested in a variety of crypto-assets, including Qtum, Vechain, and Zcash.

Valery Vavilov (CEO, Bitfury)

Valery Vavilov was ranked seventh among the billionaires in the world of cryptocurrencies. He is CEO at Bitfury cryptocurrency platform for mining bitcoin. Valery Vavilov has the wealth of $500-$700 million. The businessman has long been interested in decentralized money systems.

Charles Hoskinson (Co-founder, Ethereum, IOHK)

Charles Hoskinson is the eighth on the Forbes’ list of crypto billionaires. He is one of the co-founders of Ethereum. His fortune varies from $500 to $600 million. He is one of seven partners of Vitalik Buterin. Charles Hoskinson specializes in cryptocurrency investments. He formed a new project called IOHK, a public blockchain platform developed to create smart contracts. This platform hosts the Ada cryptocurrency as well as Ethereum Classic with the market cap of $3 billion.

Brad Garlinghouse (CEO, Ripple)

Brad Garlinghouse occupies ninth place on the list. His fortune hovers between $400-$500 million. Brad Garlinghouse is Harvard M.B.A. and former CEO at Hightail cloud service. He also took such positions as president of consumer applications at AOL and a senior vice president at Yahoo. As Ripple CEO, Garlinghouse has a 6.3% stake in the company. This year, the company’s market capitalization has reached $30 billion.

Vitalik Buterin (Creator of Ethereum)

Vitalik Buterin closes the list of top 10 cryptocurrency billionaires. Buterin was awarded a $100,000 Peter Thiel Fellowship for his work in developing the Ethereum platform and associated digital currency Ether. ICO was launched thanks to the ETH cryptocurrency net. In 2019, the ICO market capitalization hit $4 billion. At the moment, the market capitalization of Ethereum exceeds $80 billion. Vitalik Buterin, the owner of $400-$500 billion, cooperates with such IT behemoths as Microsoft, BP, and JPMorgan Chase.