Forbes List Shows 17 Crypto Billionaires Led By Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao And Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

The
founders
of
the
world’s
two
biggest
crypto
exchanges,
Changpeng
Zhao
and
Brian
Armstrong,
are
the
richest
individuals
in
the
crypto
industry.

That’s
according
to
Forbes,
which
unveiled
on
April
2
its
annual

ranking
of
the
richest
crypto
billionaires.

Changpeng
Zhao,
known
as
CZ,
tops
the
list,
even
as
he
awaits
sentencing
in
the
US
on
money
laundering
charges
after
agreeing
to
pay
$200
million
in
fines
and
to
step
down
as
the
CEO
of
the
world’s
largest
crypto
exchange
for
three
years.
Despite
those
setbacks
and
an
exodus
of
executive
staff
from
Binance
last
year,
Forbes
estimates
his
fortune
at
$33
billion.

Brian
Armstrong,
the
CEO
of
the
largest
US
cryptocurrency
exchange,

Coinbase,
is
in
2nd
place
with
a
net
worth
of
$11.2
billion
after
the
exchange’s
stock
price
soared
200%
in
the
past
year.
Armstrong
holds
an
18%
stake
in
Coinbase.

For
the
third
year
running,
Changpeng
Zhao,
founder
and
former
CEO
of
crypto
exchange
Binance,
is
crypto’s
wealthiest
person.

https://t.co/Cbx0JTN775

#ForbesBillionaires

—
Forbes
(@Forbes)

April
3,
2024

Tether
Billionaires

Names
associated
with
USDT
stablecoin
issuer
Tether
feature
prominently
on
the
Forbes
list.
CFO
Giancarlo
Devasini
comes
in
third
with
a
net
worth
of
more
than
$9.2
billion
built
off
his
47%
stake
in
Tether,
the
largest
stablecoin
with
a
market
cap
of
over
$105
billion.

Tether
CEO
Paolo
Ardoino
ranked
5th
with
a
net
worth
of
$3.9
billion.
Tether
CEO
Jean-Louis
van
der
Velde
is
ranked
6th
with
an
identical
net
worth
to
Ardoino,
while
general
counsel
Stuart
Hogner
came
in
14th
with
a
net
worth
of
$2.5
billion.

Bitcoin
bull
Michael
Saylor,
ranked
4th,
is
estimated
to
have
a
net
worth
of
$4.4
billion
after
his
MicroStrategy
accumulated
more
than
200,000
BTC.

More
Crypto
Names
on
the
Forbes
Billionaires
List

Ripple’s
co-founder
Chris
Larsen
is
ranked
7th
with
a
$3.2
billion
net
worth,
while
the
Winklevoss
twins,
Cameron
and
Tyler,
who
founded
crypto
exchange
Gemini,
have
a
net
worth
of
$2.7
billion
each
and
are
ranked
joint
11th.

The
CEO
of
Galaxy
Digital,
Michael
Novogratz,
is
worth
$2.5
billion,
which
ranked
him
as
the
13th
richest
person
in
crypto.
Novogratz
reportedly
holds
$500
million
worth
of
Bitcoin
and
his
crypto
investment
firm
listed
a
spot
Bitcoin
exchange-traded
fund
in
the
US
in
January.

Tim
Draper,
who
purchased
nearly
all
the
Bitcoin
seized
by
the
US
government
from
Silk
Road
and
is
ranked
15th,
has
a
net
worth
of
$2
billion.
Draper
bought
nearly
30,000
BTC
for
$630
each
in
2014.

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