The price of bitcoin recently soared to over $90,000, pushing the total value of all digital assets to over $3.2 trillion. This surge has led to a significant increase in the net worth of some of the top crypto billionaires. According to Forbes, 11 top crypto billionaires have collectively added $38 billion to their fortunes in 2024, with $24 billion of this increase occurring after September 1. This surge in wealth comes as the industry becomes increasingly bullish on Donald Trump’s victory in the upcoming presidential election on November 5.
The biggest winners in terms of percentage gains were the leaders of publicly traded companies whose stocks are closely tied to the price of bitcoin. MicroStrategy chairman Michael Saylor saw his net worth grow by 291% to reach $8.8 billion, largely due to his company’s 464% increase in stock price year to date. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz also saw a 123% gain in net worth to $5.9 billion, riding his company’s 150% surge in stock price.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong saw a massive increase in his net worth, which surged by 80% to reach $13.8 billion, making him the second-richest person in crypto. The majority of Armstrong’s increase came in the past two months as Coinbase’s stock price surged by 74%. The biggest gainer in terms of overall dollars is Changpeng Zhao, the former Binance CEO, whose net worth jumped from $47.3 billion to $63.1 billion. Despite a 33% gain in terms of percentage increase, Zhao’s wealth largely consists of a $33 billion stake in Binance and a stockpile of 94 million BNB tokens.
However, not all crypto billionaires saw a significant increase in their net worth. Ripple co-founders Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb did not see any appreciation in their wealth. Larsen’s net worth, half of which is tied up in XRP tokens, remained flat at around $3.3 billion. McCaleb, who owns 1 billion tokens from the Stellar network, also saw no change in his net worth, which stands at $2.9 billion. Both XRP and XLM tokens have not seen significant increases in value this year, with XRP up less than 1% and XLM falling by 11%.
In March, Forbes identified both the XRP Ledger and Stellar network as billion-dollar crypto zombies due to their high market capitalizations but limited utility. Despite their market capitalizations of $38 billion and $3.9 billion respectively, these networks are primarily used for trading and speculation. As the price of bitcoin and other digital assets continue to rise, the fortunes of crypto billionaires will fluctuate, highlighting the volatility and potential for wealth creation in the crypto industry.
