Business Crypto Billionaire Fortunes Vanish as Quickly as They Were Made - Seven of the world’s richest crypto founders have lost a combined $114 billion since November as digital-asset values crumble.

By Tom Maloney
June 13, 2022, 9:33 PM UTC

One built a massive fortune that rivaled the wealthiest US tech titans. Another amassed a war chest that he vowed would change politics and philanthropy. Some were given a second chance at riches after past ventures flamed out.

The cryptocurrency craze turned Changpeng Zhao, Sam Bankman-Fried, Mike Novogratz and a handful of other digital-asset evangelists into billionaires several times over. But just as quickly as they became the new faces of global wealth, they’re now seeing their fortunes vanish at an astonishing rate.

Worth as much as $145 billion on Nov. 9, when Bitcoin reached a record high of almost $69,000, seven billionaires with fortunes tied to crypto have since lost a combined $114 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Many others who have bet big on Bitcoin, from Microstrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, are also feeling the pinch as the price of the world’s largest digital token slumped below $23,000 on Monday, the lowest since December 2020.

Crypto Crash​

Seven billionaires lost a combined $114 billion since November's crypto peak

Billionaire	9-Nov-21	13-Jun-22
Changpeng Zhao	$95.8B	$10.2B
Samuel Bankman-Fried	15.1B	8.9B
Brian Armstrong	13.7B	2.1B
Mike Novogratz	8.5B	2.1B
Fred Ehrsam	4.5B	2.1B
Tyler Winklevoss	3.8B	3.0B
Cameron Winklevoss	3.8B	3.0B

Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index
Note: Changpeng Zhao was added to the index Jan. 7, 2022. The November figure reflects his initial valuation.

Once seen as ushering in a new era of decentralized finance, crypto has been rocked by two high-profile implosions in the span of weeks. Celsius, one of the largest crypto lending platforms, announced Sunday that it was freezing all transactions on its network following speculation it would be unable to meet returns promised on some of its products. That followed the collapse in May of so-called stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister token, Luna — which is memorialized as a tattoo on the left arm of Novogratz, the founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd.

While global markets are in turmoil as the Federal Reserve and other central banks plan to aggressively raise interest rates to fight the highest inflation in decades, the speed at which crypto has plunged in recent weeks stands out. And while there’s little evidence of cracks so far in the broader US labor market, the losses in digital assets have led some crypto billionaires to resort to job cuts.

Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said his firm has “a very healthy war chest” and is expanding hiring. Still, the 44-year-old has seen his personal fortune, once the world’s 11th-largest, tumble 89% to $10.2 billion since he debuted on the Bloomberg wealth index in January. His firm has also become a focal point for US investigators seeking to rein in the crypto industry.

Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old CEO of crypto trading platform FTX, is down 66% since his fortune peaked at $26 billion. That could dent his plans to give away his money and spend big in politics. He poured $16 million into super PACs in April, making him one of the top donors to outside groups, and has said he expects to give more than $100 million during the next presidential election to support Democrats.

Novogratz, 57, whose macro fund at Fortress Investment Group was liquidated in 2015 following two years of losses, has staked his comeback on crypto, recently calling Terra a “big idea that failed.” His fortune fell on Monday to $2.1 billion, lower than when he debuted on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in December 2020, when Bitcoin traded around $29,000.

Meanwhile, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss saw their fortunes sag to $3 billion each, from as high as $5.9 billion apiece. The 40-year-old twin founders of crypto exchange Gemini, which announced this month that it would cut about 10% of its workforce, are currently touring with their rock band, Mars Junction.
Coinbase Global Inc., the largest US crypto exchange, rescinded employment offers as crypto prices kept plunging. Founders Brian Armstrong, 39, and Fred Ehrsam, 34, once worth a combined $18.1 billion, have seen their fortunes shrink to $2.1 billion each as shares of the company have tumbled 79% since their initial public offering.

As for Saylor, 57, he’s keeping the faith: He tweeted “In Bitcoin We Trust” on Monday, along with a new picture of himself surrounded by lightning. Microstrategy, the software company he founded that plunged in value during the dot-com bubble in 2000, began buying Bitcoin in 2020. Its shares closed at a peak of $1,272 in February 2021, when the 2.36 million shares Saylor currently owns would have been worth $3 billion. They’ve since plummeted about 88%.

Bukele, El Salvador’s 40-year-old president, hadn’t tweeted about Monday’s plunge in crypto as of 4:45 p.m. in New York. About a week ago was the one-year anniversary of his push to make Bitcoin legal tender. At the time, it traded at about $36,000.

Source (Archive)

 

[Aidan]

The problem is using crypto as speculative assets and treating them like they can only ever increase in value. Even still, the crypto spergs I know are buying and saying it's going to surge again later.
Most people into crypto that I know treat it as a retirement fund and are retards with no actual interest in cryptocurrency technology with all of their coins tied up in online exchanges.

 

[TowinKarz]

Also, I can't be alone in noting that in the last 3 years, my tax forms have asked if I own any cryptocurrency.

As soon as enough people say yes, the government will institute a tax on it, and the primary allure of decentralization and no official oversight will be gone.

Its fated for regulatory capture at best and failure with no recoverable assets to make the loss less severe at worst.

It was an interesting idea, but, interesting doesn't mean useful or profitable.

 

[Null]

Right, no one who has a business running on traditional currency has ever done anything important. Certainly nothing as important as running an internet gossip website.

No business running on traditional currency can be both effective and a challenge to anything.

Brick and mortar businesses running on cash can be counter-culture but your reach is very small.
Any online business requiring digital fiat will be shut down if it's even a little risque. Ask any alt-tech business.

I'm glad it keeps the site going, but the world's biggest wealth transfer from the stupid to the criminal is hardly worth defending. Of all the billionaires out there, the crypto ones are by far the least accomplished or impressive, and they certainly aren't on your side.

You're describing new money in general. Anyone who accidentally stumbles on money by being in the right place at the right time isn't liable to keep it for long.

When the government pulls the rug, you get civil war, or maybe a world war. When some Pajeet with a white paper pulls the rug, a few computer nerds jump off buildings because a cryptoevangelist convinced them to take out a HELOC to buy CumRocket.

>pulls the rug
You are ardently defending a system which debases itself by a minimum of 2% per year. Every year, the dollar is at least 2% weaker than it was the prior year.

Good little niggercattle, here's your HUD check.

If that's your self-image why are you so bitchy? Crypto currency is a failure because at some point everyone turns it into fiat. Or they turn it into something else, which they eventually turn into fiat. Because fiat pays for their bread and butter. It's a simple equation that a child could understand. That which buys your bread and butter is the real currency with the real value. Call it crypto or gold bullion or a pocketful of mumbles, it's all the same nonsense.

I routinely spend crypto for goods and services.

I'm not "bitchy", I'm saying that you're retarded and biting the hand that feeds in more ways than one. You're unironically too stupid to see why crypto is important. You're the prime example of what I mean when I refer to people who are just not intelligent enough to sit down and figure out ways to mitigate our current situation.

 

[Agent of Z.O.G.]

I slept through the second big doge pump so I feel cryptofags should suffer.

 

[Null]

The problem is using crypto as speculative assets and treating them like they can only ever increase in value. Even still, the crypto spergs I know are buying and saying it's going to surge again later.

Alt-coins is mostly pegged to the value of Bitcoin and Bitcoin goes through these cycles.



It is routine that Bitcoin halves, goes way up because of sudden scarcity as miners are not keeping up with demand, and then plummets because it got over-valued. This is not even the hardest correction it has seen. but it was also still overvalued.

I expect that the price will start going back up once inflation kicks in because people are going to start looking for inflation resistant forms of finance.

The price of bitcoin is not necessarily the end-all-be-all of its usefulness. Developers are still developing crypto related projects. You know why? Because the core product, a way to transfer money without central authority, is going to be in demand forever.

I feel like I'm wasting my time even explaining this to A&H niggercattle. Mooing against your perceived enemies is more important than information and knowing what the fuck you're talking about.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

I feel like I'm wasting my time even explaining this to A&H niggercattle.

You are, especially when you do it in such a condescending and combative way. I thought you of all people would understand how unproductive that is for how much complaining and thought goes on about this place and its problems.

 

[Null]

You are, especially when you do it in such a condescending and combative way.

Imagine living in Ukraine and feeding yourself with crypto for over a year because that's the only way people can give you money. And then in 2019 you start taking contracts and working on multiple projects hours a week just to get money flowing in. And then the users that join a year later are just like, "FUCK CRYPTO LUB MUH BANKERS SIMPLE AS! HEIL HITLER!". I am filled with a hatred for these people you cannot understand. I wasted my fucking time providing for these retards.

 

[Ebonic Tutor]

Most people into crypto that I know treat it as a retirement fund and are retards with no actual interest in cryptocurrency technology with all of their coins tied up in online exchanges.

I member when people said MTG cards were a retarded thing to horde.... An Alpha Lotus was around $2-3K then, it's now $40-50k.

A box of revised cards my sister scooped up in the early 00's for $50 is worth enough to buy a car now if I wanted, and trust me nerds will buy the cards fairly quick.

 

[Male Idiot]

Imagine living in Ukraine and feeding yourself with crypto for over a year because that's the only way people can give you money. And then in 2019 you start taking contracts and working on multiple projects hours a week just to get money flowing in. And then the users that join a year later are just like, "FUCK CRYPTO LUB MUH BANKERS SIMPLE AS! HEIL HITLER!". I am filled with a hatred for these people you cannot understand. I wasted my fucking time providing for these retards.

I thought dear leader was in Glorious Serbia the Remover, not hololistan?

Did that change?

Regular sperging follows: Joos.

That said, neither Fiat nor Crypto have anything more than common agreement going for them.

A kiwicoin is worth as much as the farmers agree on it. Dear Leader can try to set prices, but in the end, only precious metals are inherently valuable. Your CWC goddess coin is thus inherently valuable, while your winner and dumb ratings aren't.

Fiat simply has a country's government backing it. Powerful or influential governments can thus make their monopoly shekels count for more the stronger they are economically and militarily.

That's why Hungarian or Venezuelan money ain't worth much.
Crypto is the same, but without a central (((jew))) there to enforce it. But many (jews) still there to sell you snake oil.

This is a good thing because they can't freeze your assets for not having a rainbow the ukraine flag, but also bad because well... there is no safeties.

Idiots will buy a monke picture. If crypto flies out of the window, their money will be parted for funko pops or magic the gathering cards. There will always be dumb people to be milked.

The problem isn't crypto or fiat, but (jews) who can rot either easily. They worked their wealth for centuries, and answer to no one. They can leverage this onto everything, from bribing officials to buying up nigge... monkey pics. Soros has bitcoin, memba.

The problem isn't money. The problem is a question that was not solved in WW2, and now it infests almost everything.

 

[Null]

I thought dear leader was in Glorious Serbia the Remover, not hololistan?

I lived in Ukraine until 2019 and then I moved to Serbia because I could not find a legitimate way to stay in the country.

 

[Mega Man II Intro - GB]

And then the users that join a year later are just like, "FUCK CRYPTO LUB MUH BANKERS SIMPLE AS! HEIL HITLER!".

I'm actually interested in your experiences with using crypto and I'd be happy to read a well-reasoned argument and maybe modify my "don't care about crypto" position. Why didn't you just lead with that instead of inventing strawman dumbass nazis to yell at?

 

[Male Idiot]

I lived in Ukraine until 2019 and then I moved to Serbia because I could not find a legitimate way to stay in the country.

Seems like the Autism Gods were forewarning.

If this is not too personal to ask, what preferences did you have over choosing one slav clay over the other?

Legal website rules? No US extradition? Just cheap food and rent?

Are you banned from stuff like Western Union as well?

I'm actually interested in your experiences with using crypto and I'd be happy to read a well-reasoned argument and maybe modify my "don't care about crypto" position. Why didn't you just lead with that instead of inventing strawman dumbass nazis to yell at?

Uwu don't erase our existence, oy vey. This is another Stalingrad!

 

[Jack Awful]

Right as crypto becomes worthless the economy crashes.
Graphics cards will never be affordable again.

 

[Gottahavemysips]

I swear, every time that crypto endures a halving, retards get real smug and sure that this time it will definitely be it for crypto. It won't, it's been around for years now.

 

[Meat Target]

Crypto won't go away, but I'm wondering when Bitcoin specifically will go the way of AOL and be replaced by something else.

I've never bought it except to paypig Dear Leader, but it's here to stay as a new species of investment.

 

[Übertroon]

Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old CEO of crypto trading platform FTX, is down 66% since his fortune peaked at $26 billion. That could dent his plans to give away his money and spend big in politics. He poured $16 million into super PACs in April, making him one of the top donors to outside groups, and has said he expects to give more than $100 million during the next presidential election to support Democrats.

Okay, now this is brilliant. Increase crypto currency demand by accelerating the collapse of the US economy

 

[Quixotic Man]

I swear, every time that crypto endures a halving, retards get real smug and sure that this time it will definitely be it for crypto. It won't, it's been around for years now.

Its kills the shitcoins though, which is hilarious.

Who knew that Elon Cum Coin wasn't going to always go up?

 

[Gottahavemysips]

Its kills the shitcoins though, which is hilarious.

Who knew that Elon Cum Coin wasn't going to always go up?

Well, yeah, this was going to happen regardless. Anybody who buys a coin which has a market strategy of "beg Musk on Twitter to shill it" deserves to lose their money.

 

[The Ugly One]

Alt-coins is mostly pegged to the value of Bitcoin and Bitcoin goes through these cycles.

View attachment 3386617

It is routine that Bitcoin halves, goes way up because of sudden scarcity as miners are not keeping up with demand, and then plummets because it got over-valued. This is not even the hardest correction it has seen. but it was also still overvalued.

I expect that the price will start going back up once inflation kicks in because people are going to start looking for inflation resistant forms of finance.

The price of bitcoin is not necessarily the end-all-be-all of its usefulness. Developers are still developing crypto related projects. You know why? Because the core product, a way to transfer money without central authority, is going to be in demand forever.

I feel like I'm wasting my time even explaining this to A&H niggercattle. Mooing against your perceived enemies is more important than information and knowing what the fuck you're talking about.

I think there's obvious utility in a way to transfer value that governments and politically motivated banks can't shut down. Operation Choke Point changed everything, so crypto will probably never go away. I also think the value proposition of that is much, much lower than the current price of Bitcoin indicates, and that there's going to be a really nasty crash when Tether shits the bed.

You can interpret that chart through a variety of dates; I think the most important dates missing are the Mt. Gox implosion in 2014 and Bitfinex launching Tether trading in 2015. IMO the next big even is going to Mt Gox-like in its effect.

 

[ComedyEnjoyer]

I swear, every time that crypto endures a halving, retards get real smug and sure that this time it will definitely be it for crypto. It won't, it's been around for years now.

Exact same fucking articles everytime, retarded faggots who only "own" crypto through Robinhood freak the fuck out, normies act real smug and don't buy any, then in another 2 years they're seething they didn't buy the dip yet again.