Minting billionaires faster than any other industry in history, the world of cryptocurrency has been churning out 10-figure fortunes for its luckiest and savviest players. From just two individuals recognised by Forbes at the end of 2017, the number has grown more than 10-fold.

With Bitcoin hitting record highs and numerous other digital assets booming, crypto can seem like a one-way ticket to outrageous wealth. But the market is largely unregulated and notoriously volatile. Fortunes can evaporate as quickly as they appear, and the industry is littered with cautionary tales. With this in mind, read on to discover the people who've made a billion or more thanks to crypto, ranked by their total fortune today. The list includes a certain leader of the free world...

All dollar amounts in US dollars. Wealth figures courtesy of Forbes, with data correct as of 1 October 2025.

The crypto elite's rapid ascent has been matched by a series of dramatic falls. Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang saw their 10-figure-plus fortunes obliterated after they orchestrated one of the largest financial frauds in history. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes also fell foul of regulators, with legal troubles contributing to his departure from the three-comma club. Others, like Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin and Dunamu's Kim Hyoung-nyon, slipped from the rankings as market valuations tanked.

Meanwhile, the industry has been haunted by a series of mysterious deaths involving high-profile figures, including Russian Forex Club billionaire Vyacheslav Taran, who died in a suspicious helicopter crash in France in 2022.

The crypto crash of 2022 knocked a number of the industry's elite off the billionaire pedestal, including Song Chi-hyung, the co-founder and chairman of Dunamu, the firm behind Upbit, South Korea's leading crypto exchange.

With the market on a spectacular bull run since last year, Song recently regained his billionaire status, unlike his Dunamu co-founder Kim Hyoung-nyon, who has yet to recover his former fortune.

Joe Lau joined the billionaire club in early 2022 when Alchemy, the blockchain software company he co-founded in 2020, reached a peak valuation of $10.2 billion (£7.6bn). The number has since dropped to around $6 billion (£4.5bn), due mainly to the general decrease in the valuations of private tech companies over the past three years, according to Forbes.

Lau's wealth has declined in tandem, falling from $2.4 billion (£1.8bn) in 2022 to $1.5 billion (£1.1bn) at the last count.

Nikil Viswanathan started Alchemy alongside Lau in 2020. The duo met while studying at Stanford University and cut their entrepreneurial teeth with the meetup app Down To Lunch before venturing into the crypto space.

Like Lau, Viswanathan holds a 26% stake in the San Francisco-based company and has seen his net worth decline since 2022 in step with Alchemy’s valuation. Still, the crypto software whizz and his co-founder remain firmly in the billionaire ranks.

The newest member of the billionaire crypto club, Jeremy Allaire joined the coveted clique in June after his New York-headquartered firm Circle, which is behind the up-and-coming USDC stablecoin, went public in a showstopping IPO. Circle stock jumped over 200% on day one, and in July, Allaire's net worth hit $4.1 billion (£3bn). It's since fallen back to $2.5 billion (£1.9bn).

Another industry veteran, Jed McCaleb played an important role in the early blockchain days, co-founding three companies that helped shape the industry: Mt. Gox, the first ever Bitcoin exchange, as well as digital payment firms Ripple and Stellar.

As a Ripple co-founder, McCaleb bagged nine billion units of its native crypto XRP, the key source of his wealth. Given he cashed in the lot by 2022, McCaleb's fortune is now largely realised, rooted in hard currency and tangible assets rather than on-paper token valuations, unlike many of his crypto peers.

Matthew Roszak is the co-founder and chairman of Bloq, a leading US provider of blockchain infrastructure solutions. A former venture capitalist turned early Bitcoin investor, Roszak is a well-known figure in the crypto space and a vocal advocate for blockchain innovation. He has also chaired the Digital Chamber, the world’s largest trade association representing the blockchain industry.

Roszak became a billionaire in 2021 when his net worth reached $1.5 billion (£1.1bn). According to Forbes, his fortune now stands at $3.1 billion (£2.3bn)

Seasoned Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper lucked out big-time in 2014 when he snapped up 29,656 bitcoins confiscated by US authorities from the notorious Silk Road online black market. Draper paid just $632 (£469) per coin, an incredible bargain in hindsight.

With Bitcoin hitting record highs and each coin now worth well over $115,000 (£85k), Draper’s crypto fortune has surged to $3.4 billion (£2.5bn), up from $2 billion (£1.5bn) last year and $1.2 billion (£891m) in 2022.

Fred Ehrsam is the co-founder of Coinbase, America's number one crypto brokerage, which debuted in 2012. While he left to set up crypto investment firm Paradigm in 2017, Ehrsam continues to own a sizable 4% of Coinbase.

With the company's stock at an all-time high, the crypto pioneer's net worth has exploded this year, jumping from $2.7 billion (£2bn) in the spring to $4.4 billion (£3.3bn) in July, before settling at $3.7 billion (£2.8bn) today.

Along with his identical twin brother Tyler, Cameron Winklevoss shot to fame after suing Mark Zuckerberg over claims he stole the idea for Facebook from them. Using part of their multimillion-dollar settlement, the siblings began buying Bitcoins way back in 2012 when each coin was worth less than $10 (£7). Two years later, the early crypto advocates launched Gemini, one of America's first regulated exchanges for crypto.

The brothers reportedly hold around 70,000 Bitcoins. Given the surge in the crypto's value, their respective fortunes have swelled by around $1.6 billion (£1.2bn) in the past year alone.

The twins remain very hands-on at Gemini, with Cameron serving as president and Tyler as CEO. Not ones to rest on their laurels, they've put their all into making the crypto exchange a huge success, and it now processes an impressive $30 million (£22m) in trades a day. But the pair's achievements extend well beyond tech and finance.

The Winklevii, as they're nicknamed, are also world-class athletes. Accomplished rowers, they competed in the 2008 Olympics and have taken part in the prestigious Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.

Stuart Hoegner is one of four billionaires created by Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer. Hoegner served as general counsel since Tether's founding in 2014 before retiring from the role earlier this year and owns a tidy 13% of the firm.

The British Virgin Islands-based company, which has blown away Wall Street with its incredible profitability, recently attained a record valuation of $160 billion (£118bn). This has boosted the fortunes of its four billionaires no end. Hoegner's net worth now stands at $6.2 billion (£4.6bn), up from $2.5 billion (£1.9bn) last year.

Now a bona fide crypto billionaire, the US president is raking it in from his questionable forays into the world of digital currencies. According to a Forbes study published in June, Trump's crypto holdings are now worth more than Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago combined.

Launched in January, the POTUS' controversial $TRUMP meme coin has reportedly netted him $742 million (£551), while his other ventures, including his World Liberty stablecoin and NFT business, have pushed the Trump family's total crypto holdings past the $5 billion (£3.7bn) mark.

Michael Novogratz transitioned from Goldman Sachs and Fortress Investment Group to crypto back in 2013, investing in Bitcoin in those halcyon early days when it cost peanuts. Novogratz went on to found Galaxy Digital Holdings, one of the world's top crypto investment firms, and remains the company CEO and majority shareholder.

It hasn't all been plain sailing, with Novogratz losing big in 2022 after backing the ill-fated Terra Luna crypto network, which collapsed in the space of three days in May of that year. Nonetheless, Novogratz's net worth has bounced back and then some, with the current figure of $7.5 billion (£5.6bn) more than double last year's number.

One of the more colourful crypto moguls, Justin Sun hit the headlines last year when he splurged $6.2 million (£4.6m) on a banana taped to a wall, before eating the prized artwork. Sun could certainly afford to. The early Bitcoin investor and founder of the TRON blockchain, Poloniex exchange, and various other crypto ventures has seen his net worth skyrocket lately. With his various interests performing brilliantly, he's now worth $8.5 billion (£6.3bn), up from $2.5 billion (£1.9bn) in the spring.

Sun's regulatory woes seem over too. In February, US authorities dropped a lawsuit alleging Sun and his companies acted fraudulently. The move has raised eyebrows given Sun had bought $75 million (£56m) worth of Trump's World Liberty stablecoin just before the suit's dismissal.

A billionaire for the second time, Michael Saylor co-founded software and business intelligence company MicroStrategy in 1989, achieving billionaire status during the dot-com boom, only to lose it when the bubble burst.

Fast-forward to 2020, and the MicroStrategy chief made the shrewd decision to invest heavily in Bitcoin. The move has paid off handsomely. Saylor rejoined the three-comma club the following year with a net worth of $2.3 billion (£1.7bn) and is now worth an eye-opening $8.6 billion (£6.4bn).

Another of the four Tether billionaires, Jean-Louis van der Velde departed as company CEO in 2023 but still helms its sister firm Bitfinex. Van der Velde also retains a large 20% stake in Tether, which has soared in value over the past year.

Van der Velde is now worth $9.5 billion (£7.1bn), more than double last year's figure.

Paolo Ardoino replaced van der Velde as Tether CEO in 2023. Like his predecessor, Ardoino owns 20% of the company. This substantial stake is clearly much-deserved considering how profitable the business has been under his leadership.

Tether posted a $6.2 billion (£4.6bn) profit in 2023, and the figure increased to $13 billion (£9.7bn) last year. Amazingly, the company consists of only around 100 employees, making these numbers all the more remarkable.

Chris Larsen founded Ripple along with Jed McCaleb in 2012. While McCaleb is no longer with the company, Larsen remains executive chairman. Larsen's assets, which include a substantial XRP portfolio, are now worth $11.9 billion (£8.8bn).

However, the crypto magnate was worth $58 billion (£43bn) for a brief time in 2017 when XRP spiked in price, making him temporarily richer than Mark Zuckerberg on paper.

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong started what would go on to become America's leading crypto brokerage together with Fred Ehrsam in 2012.

Armstrong has a much larger stake in the company than his former colleague, 19% compared to Ehrsam's 4%. Needless to say, he's worth a good bit more, with his net worth currently pegged at $14.2 billion (£10.6bn).

Giancarlo Devasini is the co-founder and chief financial officer of Tether. According to Forbes, the crypto tycoon, who used to be a cosmetic surgeon, is likely the company's biggest shareholder.

Devasini is estimated to own a 47% stake, which would make him the number one by a long shot. With Tether going from strength to strength, the holding has sent his net worth into the stratosphere, up from $9.2 billion (£6.7bn) last year to $22.4 billion (£16.7bn) at the last count.

The richest crypto tycoon by a wide margin, Changpeng Zhao aka CZ is the founder and former CEO of Binance, the world's leading crypto exchange. He was forced to step down in 2023 following a US investigation and went on to serve four months in prison for violating money laundering laws.

Despite his conviction, CZ still owns 90% of Binance and holds a substantial number of BNB tokens. With the company thriving and the token hitting new heights, CZ's wealth has risen accordingly. It's now at $82.8 billion (£61.5bn), up from $33 billion (£24.6bn) last year.

Cloaked in mystery, Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto has never been publicly identified and it's unclear whether they're a single person, a group of people, or even truly real at all. In any case, rumour has it Nakamoto controls around 1.1 million Bitcoins, untouched since the early days of the crypto.

At today’s prices, that would make the elusive founder the world’s wealthiest crypto figure by far, worth an estimated $128 billion (£95bn). But given the lack of a verifiable identity, you won't be seeing this enigma on a Forbes list anytime soon.

Now discover 25 people made billionaires by AI