Binance CEO tops Forbes crypto-billionaires list

Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, topped the Forbes list of the richest figures in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. The publication counted a record 19 billionaires in the sector.

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With a fortune of $65 billion, Zhao ranked 19th on the list of the world’s richest people. According to Forbes, he owns at least 70% of the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.

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In second place on the ranking was last year’s leader — co-founder and CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. In January the exchange raised $400 million at a valuation of $32 billion. The entrepreneur’s personal wealth amounts to $24 billion.

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The top three was completed by Coinbase founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, with a fortune of $6.6 billion.

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The fourth spot on the ranking was taken by FTX co-founder and CTO Gary Wang — $5.9 billion.

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The top five was completed by Chris Larsen — $4.3 billion. The Ripple co-founder and CEO was the only representative not tied to an exchange business.

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The top-10 list also includes:

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• 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.

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Thanks to the NFT boom that began in 2021, the co-founders of the largest marketplace in the NFT space, OpenSea, entered the list for the first time. Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah each have a net worth of $2.2 billion.

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Their fortunes were surpassed by the co-founders of the infrastructure Web3 platform Alchemy, Nikil Vishwanathan and Joseph Lau — $2.4 billion each.

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Rounding out the list:

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

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As reported in November 2021 by China Caijing, Changpeng Zhao’s fortune was put at $90 billion. In January 2022, Bloomberg named a figure close to that — $96 billion.

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In February, Binance invested $200 million in Forbes.