Elon Musk
Net worth: $40 billion. Cryptocurrency savings: 0.25 BTC.
Elon Musk
Billionaire and former Dogecoin "CEO" Elon Musk keeps his savings in several assets. Only a very small portion of his money is in Bitcoin, even though Musk is a well-known supporter of cryptocurrencies.
Elon first spoke about his digital assets back in 2022, but until recently he did not disclose the exact amounts.
I still only own 0.25 Bitcoins btw
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2020
A week ago, it became known that the billionaire owns only a quarter of Bitcoin, which is equal to approximately $2,400 at the current exchange rate. A relatively modest amount, but also nothing.
Bitcoin millionaires - Top 10
Bitcoin millionaires, who are they? The world's most famous cryptocurrency, BTC, was born in 2008 and created so much noise that it would last for a decade. This is especially true in 2022, when the Bitcoin rate reached a record $19,800. That's when the first Bitcoin millionaires were born. Many investors appreciated the promise of the new coin at the initial stages and were able to earn millions from it.
Most experts are skeptical about investing in digital assets, but a huge number of people around the world are risking their money and investing large sums in cryptocurrencies, hoping to emulate the success of the ten most famous Bitcoin millionaires.
Mark Cuban
Net worth: $4.3 billion. Cryptocurrency savings: approximately $130.
Mark Cuban
Cuban is an investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. In April, he revealed the value of his Bitcoin savings - just $130. This is not surprising, since Mark has been criticizing cryptocurrencies for several years in a row. He came into possession of a small amount of crypto after the Dallas Mavericks began selling tickets and souvenirs for BTC. Here is his quote.
We currently accept Bitcoin - please purchase everything you need with cryptocurrency. I'm fine with that, right? I think we made about $130 in BTC the entire time. These are all the coins I have at the moment.
Recall that in 2022, the billionaire said that he would prefer to own bananas rather than crypto. Questionable decision.
What does Bitcoin look like?
Bitcoin coin
Despite the fact that bitcoin is a purely electronic currency, there have still been attempts to create real bitcoin coins in order to introduce it into the real world. A man named Mike Caldwell Casascius coins , which are essentially just “cold wallets” with a passkey code holographically printed on them. When we ask what Bitcoin looks like and see a photo of it, then this is the same Casascius.
How did Mike Caldwell come up with this idea? He simply decided to start a business on bitcoins. The owner of the latter could transfer him a certain amount of this cryptocurrency, and Mike took $50 for each minted coin that had a Bitcoin symbol on it. He generated wallets into which he placed round sums, printed out holographic private and public keys, which he glued to the coin. He sent similar coins by mail. Since Mike made wallet addresses publicly available, fans of this project created a website that tracks the route of such coins. Their owners at first did not take these coins seriously, but when they began to cost a million dollars, they began to frantically rummage through the drawers of their desks, looking for a coin that had been carelessly thrown there, which began to cost an indecent amount.
Paper Bitcoin
Due to the growing popularity of this cryptocurrency, its paper equivalents have appeared in recent years. The owner of bitcoins can print a document with copies of public and private keys that form a virtual wallet. Most often this is a QR code that can be easily scanned, and to complete the transaction you only need to add access keys.
Surprisingly, the dwarf island of Alderney (one of the Channel Islands) also wanted to mint its own physical equivalents of Bitcoin.
Paul Tudor Jones
Net worth: $5.1 billion. Savings in cryptocurrency: 1-2 percent of the investment portfolio.
Paul Tudor Jones
In May, during an interview with CNBC, Jones said he kept 1-2 percent of his assets in Bitcoin. According to him, investors should bet on cryptocurrency during the global crisis associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a quote.
This is an excellent tool for speculation. I recently made some purchases, so now a little over 1 percent of my assets are now in Bitcoin. Perhaps even almost 2. In my opinion, this is the right proportion of investments in crypto now.
Anthony Di Iorio
The third founder of Ethereum also made it onto our list. Anthony is also the founder of Decentral and Jaxx, but his main profit came from investing in Ethereum. Di Iorio's strategy is to invest in cryptocurrencies in the early stages and exit at the peak of its value. Currently, his fortune is estimated at more than $1 billion.
Brian Armstrong
Net worth: $1.3 billion Cryptocurrency holdings: unknown
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong
Armstrong simply has to be on this list, because he is the founder of the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase. Let us remember that his company appeared in 2012, when the cost of one bitcoin did not yet exceed $10.
Unfortunately, Brian Armstrong keeps the exact value of his cryptocurrency holdings secret. One day, a note appeared in Fortune magazine that the value of a billionaire’s assets in Ethereum was allegedly less than his savings in Bitcoin. However, this does not allow us to draw conclusions about any numbers.
Roger Ver
Number of Bitcoins: 300 thousand
Estimated value: $2.58 billion
Roger Ver was inspired by the idea of cryptocurrency from the very beginning. He is called the “Bitcoin Jesus.” In 2011, when Bitcoin was trading at around $10, he predicted that digital money would outperform any other asset class by a factor of 100 over the next two years. And then I watched the prediction come true.
Ver has invested in various startups based on the idea of digital money. He is now the head of Bitcoin.com.
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Jack Dorsey
Net worth: $4.7 billion. Cryptocurrency savings: “enough.”
Jack Dorsey
Twitter CEO and Bitcoin evangelist Jack Dorsey has been an outspoken supporter of the cryptocurrency for a very long time. In addition to Twitter, he also owns the technology company Square, which has been accepting payments in BTC since 2022.
Just like Armstrong, Jack Dorsey does not disclose the amount of his savings in crypto. He was once openly asked on Twitter how many coins he had. To this Jack gave a short answer.
Enough.
Enough
— jack (@jack) February 5, 2019
Threats to millionaires
Unfortunately, scammers and criminals have become selective in not only stealing from personal wallets, but also extorting crypto-millionaires. Among the methods are various - including force - holding in captivity until a certain amount is credited to the wallet. The situation in maintaining security is complicated by the fact that the police do not have access to transactions on the blockchain, and therefore will not be able to trace and return the ransom. The fear of becoming a “walking target,” I think, forces more than a dozen millionaires, and even larger players, not to reveal their names and faces.
While the community is enjoying the stabilization and gradual increase in the exchange rate of Bitcoin and other coins, information has leaked to the media that there is one more crypto-millionaire in the world. He became Curtis James Jackson III, a famous rapper under the pseudonym 50 Cent. 4 years ago, he sold his album “Animal Ambition” for crypto, thereby becoming the first artist to take part in such a deal. The purchase amount was 700 bitcoins - 400 thousand dollars, and now it is 7-8.5 million dollars. According to the singer, he simply forgot to convert BTC into dollars, and such a nice bonus will help him solve his accumulated financial problems after bankruptcy.
And I wish you not only not to encounter financial difficulties, but also to attract success and financial stability with your habits, and how to do this is in the material on the blog. And let each of us strive to be not only a crypto-millionaire, but also a crypto-billionaire.
Author Ganesa K.
A professional investor with 5 years of experience working with various financial instruments, runs his own blog and advises investors. Own effective methods and information support for investments.
Changpeng Zhao
Net worth: $2.6 billion. Cryptocurrency savings: at least 1667 BTC.
Changpeng Zhao on the cover of Forbes
The founder of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, Changpeng Zhao, is the first person in this ranking to hold all of his assets in cryptocurrencies. It is known that Zhao owns Bitcoin and Binance Coin, the native token of his own trading platform.
By the way, the story of Zhao’s involvement in the cryptocurrency industry is very interesting. In 2013, in Shanghai, he played poker with the founder of the BTCC exchange, Bobby Lee. He advised Changpeng to invest at least 10 percent of his money in Bitcoin. Some time later, Zhao sold his house for a million dollars and used this money to buy bitcoins at a price of $600 per 1 BTC. This is at least 1667 BTC.
In an interview with the news publication Decrypt, Changpeng admitted that he has not touched these coins since then.
In February 2022, Zhao's net worth was $1.1 billion according to Forbes magazine. And although the price of Bitcoin has dropped since then, the Binance exchange still brings a stable and serious income to its founder.
Rich people no one knows anything about
Yes, today we can find the wallet numbers of those who own the largest Bitcoin fortunes. However, it is impossible to determine exactly who owns the money or even understand what country they live in.
Moreover, the top 100 rich people store their wealth in accounts that are a series of letters and numbers that tell us nothing. Only 2 people out of this hundred have wallet addresses that can be decrypted: this is a wallet on the Bitmain service, as well as a currency account on the Bitfinex exchange.
However, these figures also cannot reliably tell us about the fortunes of the richest users: it is quite possible that some of them have several foreign currency accounts. Therefore, it is impossible to rely on such data.
Winklevoss brothers
Net worth: $1.8 billion. Cryptocurrency holdings: 1 percent of all Bitcoins (as of April 2013).
Did you know that the Winklevoss brothers performed at the Olympic Games?
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss first gained fame after legal battles with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. In 2004, they claimed that Zuckerberg stole the idea of a social network from them by creating Facebook. The trial lasted more than five years, and only in 2009 the Winklevoss were awarded compensation in the amount of $65 million.
The brothers took 45 million in the form of shares of Zuckerberg’s company and were right: after Facebook’s IPO in 2012, the securities were already worth $300 million. That same year, the Winklevosses made another fateful decision: they invested $11 million in Bitcoin. After some time, the brothers founded their own cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini.
As of 2013, billionaires managed to control 1 percent of all bitcoins in circulation. Considering that their exchange is still developing successfully, it can be assumed that over the past years their faith and the volume of assets in crypto have only grown.
Your name is unknown
One of the main attractions of digital currency is that its owner can be a millionaire completely anonymously. The names of the majority of people who own the fattest crypto wallets are unknown and will remain so unless the virtual rich themselves wish otherwise. However, some can still be named, and each has its own unique history of formation.
crypto
Photo: TASS/Zuma/Manuel Romano
Main three
The reason for the record increase in the value of Bitcoin is named
It will probably not surprise anyone that the richest is not the one who buys bitcoins, but the one who invented them. The creation of the Bitcoin payment system is attributed to a man named Satoshi Nakamoto. He owns 1 million bitcoins, which is equal to more than $9.5 billion as of December 1, 2022. However, it is not known for certain: Satoshi Nakamoto is one person or a group of people who have taken a single pseudonym.
The top three digital moneybags also include twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. In 2013, they sued Mark Zuckerberg for $65 million, accusing him of stealing their idea for creating the social network Facebook. The brothers invested part of the funds received, namely $11 million, in bitcoins. The Winlevoss also created an exchange for trading the Gemini cryptocurrency. Thanks to such investments, the brothers have 1.5 million bitcoins (about $14.2 billion) between them.
twins
Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
Photo: Global Look Press/D. Long
Africa's first crypto millionaire
The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has ruled out the legalization of Bitcoin in Russia
South African resident Mpho Dagada became interested in Bitcoin in 2013, when he was still in his first year at the University of Johannesburg. For the first time, the young man purchased cryptocurrency not for himself, but at the request of a friend who, according to her, had little understanding of computer technology. Dagada complied with her request and since then began to look at changes in the exchange rate himself from time to time. In 2014, growth became obvious. By that time, Mpho already had a small business - he opened a laundry and cleaning company. The young man began investing his profits in bitcoins. Having studied the system itself in more detail, he was extremely inspired and had no doubt that digital currencies had a great future.
Dagada does not specify exactly how much he earned in dollars thanks to the growth of Bitcoin. But, apparently, enough to found his own logistics company and open a chain of fast food restaurants. He presented his business concept in Silicon Valley and received positive feedback from experts. The African is now 24 years old. He wrote the book “Millionaire at 21,” in which he shares his knowledge about digital currencies and his experience of starting his own business from scratch.
Sell bitcoins and quit forever
An American who calls himself Mr. Smith (which is more convenient for him now) bought bitcoins in 2010. He then worked as a programmer in California's Silicon Valley and, before making an investment, carefully studied the technology underlying the innovation. The digital currency seemed quite promising to Smith, and the well-earning programmer thought that he could easily invest, for example, $3 thousand in it.
No sooner said than done: Smith purchased 20 thousand bitcoins at a price of $0.15 each. Such an investment was quite extravagant even by the standards of the innovative environment in which the young man lived. But this did not bother the American: he was simply interested to see what would come of all this.
mining
Photo: REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
A novice investor practically forgot about investing for three years. However, in 2013, Bitcoin loudly announced itself for the first time and became the subject of financial news. Digital money has risen in price by 2 thousand times compared to the time of purchase by Smith. When the programmer saw that they were paying $350 for Bitcoin, he sold 2 thousand units. Then, when just a few days later the virtual currency jumped to $800 per unit, the American could not stand it and sold the same amount. He literally woke up a millionaire: he had $2.3 million in his account.
The Winklevoss brothers were named the first Bitcoin billionaires
The programmer wrote a letter of resignation and went to travel the world with his girlfriend. In subsequent years, he sold some more bitcoins, which increased his wealth by more than 10 times. But the former office worker does not even think about getting rid of cryptocurrency completely: he is sure that Bitcoin still has everything ahead. Smith and his girlfriend spend time visiting cities and countries they have always wanted to visit: Monaco, Singapore, Zurich, Las Vegas, Moscow.
Did it yourself - teach others
Ofir Beigel is the author of a Bitcoin blog called 99 Bitcoins. This is exactly how many units of digital currency were purchased by a resident of Tel Aviv in 2013. It is easy to calculate that as of December 1, 2022, this amount in US dollars is only slightly short of a million.
Ofir noticed that the network is sorely lacking in information presented in the “cryptocurrency for dummies” style. Everything he came across was heavy and unclearly written. This is how his blog for beginners appeared. There are videos about Bitcoin technology, reviews of trading platforms, instructions for miners, advice on buying and storing, and stories about promising Bitcoin startups.
buy_coin
Photo: Global Look Press/Jens Kalaene
In his free time, Beigel travels and enjoys swimming and piloting helicopters. He believes that it is not too late to invest in Bitcoin.
The first Bitcoin ATM appeared in Kazan
Everything is at stake
In October 2022, a resident of the Netherlands with many children sold his house and all family property for bitcoins. Didi Taihuttu managed to gain 85 units of cryptocurrency (about $390 thousand).
The IT specialist’s plan is this: to hold bitcoins for three years and in the meantime spend time with his family on budget trips around the world. Didi's wife and children supported him. For example, now, judging by the Dutchman’s Instagram account, they live on the Philippine island of Boracay.
So far we can say that Taihuttu made the right decision. If we convert his digital fortune into regular money, then as of December 1, 2017, the amount is already about $816 thousand. Undoubtedly, this is a very risky investment, but Didi believes in the coming crypto boom.
“If you never take risks, your life is boring,” says a potential millionaire.
Tim Draper
Net worth: $1 billion. Cryptocurrency savings: 30 thousand BTC.
Tim Draper
Tim Draper is one of those people who can smell a profitable investment a mile away. In 2014, the billionaire bought 30 thousand BTC at an auction after the closure of the notorious Silk Road trading platform. Since then, Draper has become increasingly closer to the cryptocurrency industry and continued to invest money in it.
During the recent third Bitcoin halving, Draper made another prediction regarding the future price of the main cryptocurrency.
By the beginning of 2023, I expected the value of Bitcoin to rise to $250 thousand. But I could not imagine that the government would print 9 trillion dollars and once again make Bitcoin more attractive in the eyes of investors.
Pioneers in the world of Bitcoin
- The world's very first ATM that exchanged bitcoins for dollars and back appeared in Canada in Vancouver, and this was in October 2013. They called it Robocoin. Regular money could be deposited by card or cash. It was allowed to exchange no more than 3,000 Canadian dollars per day, which is approximately 2,900 dollars from its southern neighbor.
- The University of Cyprus has become the first university in the world to accept payments in Bitcoin. The first student to pay this university with cryptocurrency was South African Frank Rossoux.
- In Russia, the first university to start accepting bitcoins as payment was the Higher School of Scriptwriters and Directors in St. Petersburg.
- Thailand, before other countries, managed to first ban Bitcoin and then allow it.
- The first car company to start accepting bitcoins was the Italian Lamborghini.
- As for civil aviation, Skycraft Airplanes was the first to exchange its planes for bitcoins.
- The first show business star willing to sing for bitcoins was Mel B from the Spice Girls. As for our “stars,” not all of them even know what email is.
- Soon you will even be able to fly into space using virtual currency! The world-famous billionaire Richard Branson also turned out to be partial to bitcoins. He recently announced that his travel company Virgin Galactic, which sells seats to space travelers on a ship that does not yet exist, is ready to accept advance payment for this pleasure in bitcoins. Branson generally considers the cryptosystem one of the best ways to invest capital and recommends that all wealthy people be more confident in using this electronic currency.
Theory #3
With the third theory, everything is a little simpler. That's exactly what I'm leaning towards. So, anyone who has heard at least a little about the mining process has most likely heard that each block of the Bitcoin network is found on average in 10 minutes. The search time can range from several seconds to tens of minutes and even hours, but the average time will still be ten minutes. Therefore, such a quantity (21 million) makes it possible to set the duration of block mining by 10 minutes regularly, i.e. if there is a stable block time, then the number of coins will reach the required level. The limit also corresponds to the amount of rewards paid to miners after each
What we have, we don’t store
Surely many people have been tempted to buy inexpensive bitcoins in the past, and then sold or exchanged them for next to nothing, or worse, lost them. One can only sympathize with such people.
For example, for the first time, bitcoins were exchanged for real goods in May 2010: American Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas by paying 10 thousand bitcoins. He did not know that this fast food would become the most expensive in his life.
If you lose the secret key to the system, there will be no other evidence of ownership of virtual money - that is, savings are irretrievably lost. In November 2013, the BBC TV channel talked about a British resident who was inconsolably looking for an old hard drive with a secret key to an address that he had thrown away at a local landfill. Since 2009, seven and a half thousand bitcoins have been stored in his online wallet. The Englishman learned from the news about the galloping growth of the cryptocurrency rate and began tearing his hair out. At the time of the search operation at the garbage dump, the value of his bitcoins exceeded seven and a half million dollars...
“Now I live every day interestingly”
It is not surprising that with such an insignificant exchange rate and vague prospects, there were few people willing to buy bitcoins at the dawn of the currency’s existence. The first more or less widespread interest appeared in April 2011, after the publication of an article about cryptocurrency in Forbes. Already in May they began to give 9 dollars for Bitcoin, in June - more than 29...
But a man who prefers to call himself Mr. Smith invested in cue ball back in 2010. Having then spent three thousand dollars on the purchase of cryptocurrency, today he has become a dollar multimillionaire - and he still has bitcoins left.
In 2008, Smith graduated from college and got a rather prestigious job: a software developer at a large company based in Silicon Valley. He was in good standing and fit in well with the team. It was from one of his employees, a geek like himself, that Smith heard about bitcoins in 2010. This was the moment when the price of the cryptocurrency rose significantly for the first time - from $0.008 per bitcoin to $0.08. The number still remained quite ridiculous, so only people who were as passionate about high technology as Smith paid attention to virtual money.
“The price jump caught my attention, but I waited a few more months before investing. I wanted to first learn more about the technology behind Bitcoin,” the programmer recalls.
