Forbes crypto-billionaire list quadruples

Twelve representatives of the cryptocurrency industry joined the world’s richest list according to Forbes. In 2020 there were only three.

The leader of the rankings was Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executive of the crypto-derivatives exchange FTX, who was not on the list a year ago. The publication valued his fortune at $8.7 billion. The platform’s CEO also made the cut as one of the most promising young entrepreneurs in finance, according to Forbes.

The second place was taken by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, whose fortune over the year rose from $1 billion to $6.5 billion. Armstrong’s partner Fred Ehrsam, with a 6% stake in Coinbase, debuted in the ranking with $1.9 billion.

The same valuation was given to Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao, who has returned to the list of crypto billionaires. Forbes believes he owns 30% of the Bitcoin exchange.

In third place was Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen with a fortune of $3.4 billion. A year earlier, the magazine valued his fortune at $2.6 billion. Co‑founder Jed McCaleb of the California-based company was valued by Forbes at $2 billion. The same amount is attributed to his 3.4 billion XRP and 1 billion XLM.

The fourth and fifth places were taken by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of the Gemini bitcoin exchange, with a figure of $3 billion.

Also among the ranking were Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group, with $1.6 billion; Michael Saylor, head of MicroStrategy, with $2.3 billion; early Bitcoin investor Matthew Roszak and venture capitalist Tim Draper with $1.5 billion.

In Hurun‘s latest crypto-billionaire list, Brian Armstrong ranked higher than Sam Bankman-Fried.

In Forbes‘s ranking of the wealthiest figures in the cryptocurrency industry for 2020, the Coinbase chief also topped the list.

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