Cryptocurrencies have done well since 2023, with most coins soaring by more than 100%. As a result, the valuation of most companies in the crypto space has jumped sharply in this period. Coinbase’s market cap has surged to about $60 billion while MicroStrategy is now valued at over $30 billion.
Changpeng Zhao net worth
The implication of all this is that many big players in the crypto space have seen their net worths jump. Changpeng Zhao, the founder and majority owner of Binance, is the richest person in crypto, helped by the assumed valuation of his company.
Bloomberg estimates that CZ has a net worth of over $42 billion while Forbes places the amount at $33 billion. Forbes estimates that Binance made over $9 billion in revenues in 2023, much higher than Coinbase’s $3.1 billion. CZ owns about 90% of the company.
In addition to his Binance ownership, it is estimated that Changpeng owns vast sums of money through crypto holdings. Some of the top coins that he holds are Bitcoin and Binance Coin, which has a market cap of over $83 billion. His real holdings are not well-known.
Changpeng Zhao also has a stake in hundreds of companies through Binance Ventures. In 2023, the company invested in over 25 companies in the crypto space. Some of these companies are the likes of Dune Analytics, Injective Labs, and Celestia.
Therefore, calculating Changpeng Zhao’s actual net worth is a bit complicated. In the first place, you must estimate the valuation of Binance, which is a privately owned company. After that, you must estimate the value of all his crypto holdings and the companies he has invested in.
A good example of this is what we have seen with the FTX Estate, which had stakes in hundreds of companies. One of these firms was Anthropic, which is valued at over $18 billion. FTX’s stake in it was worth almost $1 billion.
Winklevoss Twins net worth
The other wealthy people in crypto are the Winklevoss Twins, who founded Gemini, a leading crypto exchange. Forbes estimates that the two are worth $2.7 billion each.
Most of their money comes from Bitcoin, which they invested in back in 2013. They are believed to be among the biggest holders of the coin.
They also have a stake in Gemini, one of the many crypto exchanges in the market. Gemini, which was once valued at over $7.5 billion, has lost its value in the past few years.
For example, data by CoinMarketCap shows that the exchange handled $126 million in coins in the past 24 hours. In comparison, Binance and Coinbase handled $34 billion and $4.5 billion in the same period. Forbes estimates that the exchange is now valued at less than $1 billion.
There are other highly wealthy individuals in the crypto industry. Brian Armstrong, the founder of Coinbase has a market cap of over $11 billion while Michael Saylor is worth $4.4 billion. Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital has a net worth of $2.5 billion.
