Are there any bitcoin millionaires

5 of the World’s Top Bitcoin Millionaires

Bitcoin is a digital asset and payment system with a market capitalization of around $180 billion as of September 2019. It is considered by many to be one of the most successful digital currencies ever created. Its atmospheric rise since launching in 2009 left billions of dollars up for grabs for virtually anyone, so it was only natural that the game-changing cryptocurrency created such a diverse—and surprising—field of millionaires.

Of course, nobody knew it at the time — indeed it was, and still is, a risky asset class to get involved in — although a few in the list below were not only early adopters but also predicted its economic opportunity.

Key Takeaways

• Launched in 2009, Bitcoin is the first and remains the most successful blockchain-based cryptocurrency in the world.
• The price of Bitcoin is volatile, ranging from under $10 in 2010 to just under $20,000 in early 2018. The price now hovers around $10,000 per bitcoin.
• This overall price increase has produced a handful of Bitcoin billionaires. These are the early adopters who recognized a lucrative opportunity and started accumulating or mining in the early days and held on.

Barry Silbert

Barry Silbert is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Digital Currency Group. The company’s mission is to accelerate the development of the global financial system, and it accomplishes this mission by building and supporting Bitcoin and blockchain companies. In a recent transaction, Digital Currency Group acquired CoinDesk, a leading source of Bitcoin news, which runs the annual Bitcoin industry conference. The firm has invested in more than 100 Bitcoin-related companies and is the world’s leading firm for investing in Bitcoin-related companies, landing Barry Silbert the enviable nickname «The King of Crypto.»

Silbert’s company also owns Genesis, a trading firm focused on digital currencies, and Grayscale, a company focused on digital currency investing. Silbert also started the Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of Bitcoin.

Blythe Masters

Blythe Masters is a former Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Currently, she is the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings (DAH). The company builds encryption-based processing tools that improve the efficiency, security, compliance, and settlement speed of securities trading, specifically Bitcoin. In May of 2018, DAH entered into what appears to be a lucrative partnership with Google Cloud, bringing her company’s tools to developers so they will not have to code them from scratch.

Digital Asset Holdings seeks to apply the blockchain technology to the typical activities of Wall Street. The company has raised over $150 million in funding and, interestingly, its first client is J.P. Morgan Chase, which has tested its own blockchain technology as a possible way to settle transactions more quickly. Many people think Masters gave bitcoin a lot of legitimacy with Digital Asset Holdings, considering her past, illustrious reputation on Wall Street, where she rose to Managing Director of J.P. Morgan Chase at the age of 28. As of October 2018, her company operates six offices on three continents.

Dan Morehead

Dan Morehead is the founder of Pantera Capital, the world’s first investment focused exclusively on cryptocurrencies. In 2013, Pantera launched its first crypto fund and, as of late 2018, was one of the largest institutional owners of cryptocurrencies. The fund has delivered a more-than-24,000% return for investors since its debut. Their investments in cryptocurrency-related companies range from exchanges and investment firms, such as Polychain Capital and Bitstamp, to coin trading services, such as Augur.

A former Goldman Sachs trader, Morehead was also head of macro trading and CFO at Tiger Management. Morehead is on the board of Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency trading exchange that is used by CME as an input for spot prices.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss parlayed the millions they earned after settling their Facebook lawsuit into cryptocurrencies and became the first billionaires from a late-2017 surge in Bitcoin prices.

They claim to own approximately 1% of all Bitcoins in circulation and have devised an elaborate system to store their private key for their assets.

The Winklevoss twins are focused on building an ecosystem to attract institutional investors and day traders to the cryptocurrency. To that end, they launched Gemini, the world’s first regulated exchange for cryptocurrencies. The exchange is used to set Bitcoin spot prices for futures contracts at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). The Winklevoss brothers also applied to set up a Bitcoin ETF to make the cryptocurrency accessible to retail investors, but, as of mid-2019, have been denied by the SEC for the second time.

Michael Novogratz

Billionaire Michael Novogratz has invested approximately 30 percent of his fortune in cryptocurrencies. He began investing in 2015 and announced a $500 million cryptofund, which includes $150 million of his own fortune, in 2017. Novogratz has also become a prominent pundit on Bitcoin’s price movements, having forecast a (missed) price target of $40,000 for the cryptocurrency by the end of 2018.

Investing in cryptocurrencies and other Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation by Investopedia or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies or other ICOs. Since each individual’s situation is unique, a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions. Investopedia makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein. As of the date this article was written, the author owns 0.001 bitcoin.

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Meet The World’s Top 10 Bitcoin Millionaires

There is an old adage that says: “the early bird catches the worm.” And that couldn’t be more precise when it comes to the cryptocurrency industry. Early adopters of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have multiplied their worth exponentially in a short period of time. Okay, maybe not the guy who spent 10,000 BTC on two Papa John’s pizzas.

Richest People In The Crypto Industry

Here is a list of the industry pioneers that made it big in the market, either by investing in Bitcoin when it was still worth cents or creating viable startups leveraging the power of cryptocurrencies.

Satoshi Nakamoto

There is no better place to start than the mysterious inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto has, against all odds, managed to keep his identity a mystery. Some say that it could be an organization because the concept of bitcoin and its underlying technology blockchain are too complex to be created by a single person. A number of people have come forward claiming to be Satoshi, but they have failed to provide concrete evidence to substantiate their claims.

While the spotlight is on uncovering the true identity of Nakamoto, what is known so far from the public ledger is that the creator of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency has a stash of 980,000 BTC.

Nakamoto is worth around $9 billion at the time of writing and this figure rose to $19 billion when bitcoin reached its all-time high of more than $19,000 in December 2017.

The Winklevoss Twins

It is quite impossible to talk about crypto without talking about the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Affectionately known as the Winklevii, the twins are famous for suing Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea for a social network. Ouch…

The twins, who previously rowed in Olympic Games, secured $65 million from the lawsuit and they used that money to fund some of their venture projects, including a sizable early investment in Bitcoin.

At one point, the twins claimed to own nearly 1 percent of all Bitcoins in the world. Nowadays, the twins run Gemini — one of the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, and they even have launched their own stablecoin, Gemini Dollar.

They were the subject of a book titled “Bitcoin Billionaires” written by Ben Mezrich, the same author who wrote the book “The Accidental Billionaires” chronicling the birth of Facebook.

Chris Larsen

Chris Larsen made his fortune in the crypto sphere by helping create a cryptocurrency that can be used by banks to run transactions at a fraction of traditional costs and times. And yes, you know what digital currency we are referring to: XRP. He is co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple, the company behind XRP — now on the Crypterium Wallet.

Changpeng Zhao

Changpeng Zhao, better known in the crypto community by the moniker CZ, is the founder and CEO of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Since its founding in 2017, the exchange has grown into an ecosystem and launched its own token (BNB). Apart from its centralized cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has also launched a decentralized exchange — Binance DEX.

It is believed that CZ’s crypto fortune amounted to more than $2 billion at one point. It was reported in October 2019 that Binance’s cumulative profit surpassed the $1 billion mark.

Brian Armstrong

If there is any truth to the claim that the people who made money during the Gold Rush were those who made the picks and shovels, then the same can be said about crypto.

Armstrong is the co-founder of Coinbase, one of the largest and most secure cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The exchange was launched in 2012, in the early days of Bitcoin, when it was still a novel idea largely supported by geeks and a few traders. Coinbase has grown in leaps and bounds over the years and now offers custodial services as well as trading platforms for both retail and institutional investors.

It is estimated that Armstrong’s cryptocurrency holdings are worth between $900 million and $1 billion. He is one of the first people in the crypto sector to join the Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge, where the richest people pledge to give away their wealth when they are still alive.

Joseph Lubin

Joseph Lubin is a Canadian cryptocurrency executive known for being one of the co-founders of the world’s second most valuable blockchain protocol — Ethereum. He is also the leading force behind ConsenSys, a software company that helps startups to develop decentralized applications (Dapps) that run on the Ethereum network.

Just like other early pioneers of the industry, he was inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper and has since believed that a shared infrastructure could play a huge role in “organizing the principles of the earth.”

His cryptocurrency net worth is said to be valued between $1 billion and $5 billion.

Anthony Diiorio

Anthony Diiorio is of another co-founder of Ethereum and a true champion and advocate of the cryptocurrency movement. His strategy is based on seeding in new cryptocurrency startups in their early days, cashing out, and reinvesting the money in new crypto projects.

He has invested in projects such as Zcash, Qtum, and Vechain and his crypto net worth is estimated at about $1 billion

Roger Ver

Roger Ver is some kind of a superstar in the crypto industry. His controversial and polarizing figure in the sector has earned him the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus.”

Ver was jailed for 10 months in connection with selling explosives through eBay. He renounced his US citizenship and has previously been denied entry into the country.

He claims to have discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has invested in a number of startups in the crypto industry including Kraken Exchange, Ripple, and BitInstant.

He is one of the founders of the Bitcoin Foundation, but his focus has recently shifted towards Bitcoin Cash, a cryptocurrency forked from Bitcoin. Ver’s official cryptocurrency holdings are not disclosed, but the community estimates he has amassed over $500 million.

, a cryptocurrency forked from Bitcoin. Ver’s official cryptocurrency holdings are not disclosed, but the community estimates he has amassed over $500 million.

Barry Silbert

Barry Silbert entered the crypto sector when he bought 48,000 bitcoins seized from the convicted Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht at a 2014 US Government auction. At the time, he paid $17 million for the BTC package. Now that’s close to $400 million. Yeap. We had the exact same face when reading about it.

He is also the founder of the digital currency venture firm Digital Currency Group.

Tim Draper

Tim Draper, one of the most influential people in the crypto industry, has an estimated net worth of $1 billion. But Draper is a venture capitalist and his worth isn’t just depending on Bitcoin or crypto startups.

He became a Bitcoin maximalist back in 2014, when he purchased 30,000 bitcoins seized from the darknet marketplace Silk Road. Yes, the same auction mentioned above. His purchase of worth $29 million at the time is now valued at nearly $273 million

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There Are Now Nearly 100,000 Bitcoin Millionaires

Bitcoin has a more even distribution of wealth than the US dollar—but pinning down how many people have struck it rich with Bitcoin is a challenge.

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, and the biggest by market capitalization. Image: Shutterstock

In brief

• Bitcoin is one of the most profitable financial instruments of all time, but tracking how many people got rich from it is challenging.
• Under the assumption that one address = one owner, there are over 93,000 Bitcoin millionaires today.
• There are now over 800 Bitcoin addresses holding over $100m in BTC.

In its short lifespan, the Bitcoin price has gone from less than a cent to highs of nearly $59,000. Unsurprisingly, it’s made some people rich along the way; what isn’t so clear-cut is exactly how many lucky individuals hit the jackpot.

One of the simplest ways to check is to look at the number of Bitcoin millionaires; in other words, anybody owning at least $1 million worth of the cryptocurrency .

Although the term has been thrown around for almost as long as Bitcoin has existed, it’s difficult to put an exact number on how many Bitcoin millionaires there are at any one time. But here’s what we do know.

Defining a Bitcoin Millionaire

Since Bitcoin has a public ledger , nailing down the number of Bitcoin millionaires should be a simple matter of checking the number of Bitcoin addresses containing more than $1 million worth of BTC. At Bitcoin’s current price of $48,627 (as of March 2, 2021), this means anybody owning at least 20.56 BTC (or thereabouts) could be considered a Bitcoin millionaire.

According to data from Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, Bitcoin has a 60-day average daily volatility of 5.35%. This means that on average, the price of Bitcoin has fluctuated by 5.35% each day for the last two months. This volatility can affect how many Bitcoin millionaires there are, by either raising or lowering the threshold required to qualify.

Similarly, due to the number of shared Bitcoin wallets (e.g. exchanges and custodians), deterministic wallets, and multi-signature wallets, simply assuming that 1 address = 1 holder can be slightly misleading.

What we can say is that any address containing more than

20.56 BTC is either a Bitcoin millionaire or a firm that controls more than $1 million in user funds—for the most part.

So how many Bitcoin millionaires are there?

As per data from BitInfoCharts, there are currently 93,479 Bitcoin addresses with a balance of $1 million or above. However, due to the fact that an unknown number of Bitcoin holders may hold multiple addresses that sum to more than $1 million, while several addresses containing more than $1 million in BTC may be owned by the same person, it’s best to consider this figure a rough estimate.

In addition, there are around 420,098 addresses containing more than $100,000 worth of Bitcoin and over 2 million containing at least $10,000 worth. Overall, of the more than 36.3 million addresses tracked by BitInfoCharts, just 0.26% can be considered millionaires at today’s rates.

For comparison, there are roughly 18.6 million individuals with a net worth of $1 million or more in the United States—equivalent to around 5.7% of the adult population. As such, there are roughly 200 times fewer Bitcoin millionaires as a proportion of Bitcoin users, than there are adult millionaires in the US.

To put this into perspective, just over a year ago, there were around 25,000 Bitcoin millionaires. This means Bitcoin’s recent bull run has helped to more than triple the number of Bitcoin millionaires in a year.

Beyond this, around one in every 12.5 Bitcoin millionaires actually hold more than $10 million worth of Bitcoin, while there are over 800 addresses containing more than $100 million in BTC. Just 40 addresses would currently qualify for the Bitcoin billionaire club (still more than tripling in a year). The wealthiest address currently in existence has a balance of 141,452 BTC, worth around $6.9 billion. This address is the cold wallet for Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, meaning it is formed from the deposits of potentially thousands of Huobi users—its value hasn’t changed since last year.

With so few Bitcoin millionaires, it’s clear that Bitcoin has achieved better distribution than many fiat currencies—helping to ensure a more even spread of crypto wealth. And if expert predictions are to believed, Bitcoin could be worth between $400,000 and $10 million in the near future—meaning anybody holding as little as $4,000 in Bitcoin today could one day stand a shot at joining the ranks of Bitcoin millionaires.

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