For the crypto world, 2022 has been a tumultuous and eventful year with many famous bankruptcies, scams and record highs.
In early 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war brought the crypto community together and demonstrated solidarity as people across the globe used crypto to donate and provide aid to Ukraine. Then the fall of Terra-Luna shook the community as prices plummeted and the bear market consolidated. Amid the shock waves of the Terra-Luna failure, a series of bankruptcies followed, starting with Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Digital Travel, and Celsius.
Bankruptcies aside, some crypto businesses, especially lenders, have struggled with liquidity following the 3AC collapse. At the time, FTX and then-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) emerged as a ‘knight in shining armor’ as he expanded funding to troubled companies. on liquidity.
SBF continues to move among Washington’s political elite — being the second-biggest donor of US President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign — lobbying for crypto regulation. Months later, on November 11, FTX declared bankruptcy and revelations of poor client fund management led to SBF’s arrest in the Bahamas and extradition to the US on December 21.
With the crypto market’s roller-coaster ride, the prices of all major cryptocurrencies are below all-time highs in 2021. About $2 trillion has been eroded from capitalization cryptocurrency market throughout the year.
When seemingly well-run companies like Celsius and FTX collapsed overnight, ordinary crypto investors lost tens of billions by 2022.
According to Forbes estimates, 17 of the wealthiest founders, investors and supporters of cryptocurrencies have lost a total of $116 billion in personal wealth since March 2022. While 15 Of these crypto tycoons lost more than half their fortune, 10 lost their billionaire status and 3 lost their entire fortune. asset.
1. Peng Zhao School
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the richest person in crypto, has seen the steepest drop in personal wealth in the past 9 months. From $65 billion in March, CZ’s net worth plummeted 93.07% to $4.5 billion in December.
2. Samuel Bankman-The Lamb
SBF, the second-richest crypto mogul in March with a net worth of $24 billion, is estimated to have lost 100% of his fortune. SBF is currently under house arrest pending trial on multiple fraud charges.
3. Brian Armstrong
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has seen his net worth drop from $6 billion in March to $1.5 billion in December — a 75% drop. Following the demise of FTX, Armstrong touted that it was trying to take the ‘tough path’ of a ‘trusted, regulated approach’, as opposed to Binance. However, with Coinbase stock down 64% since August and more than 95% from its $100 billion IPO, much of Armstrong’s assets have been wiped out.
4. Wang Jia Er
Like SBF, Gary Wang, the co-founder and former chief technology officer (CTO) of FTX, has also seen his entire $5.9 billion net worth wiped out since March. Wang, along with Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to criminal charges, according to a statement. https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1605745361842327552 by the Southern District of New York on December 21. Both Wang and Ellison are cooperating in the lawsuit against SBF.
5. Chris Larsen
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, the fifth richest person in crypto, has lost 51% of his personal wealth. From $4.3 billion in March, Larsen’s net worth increased to $1.2 billion in December.
6 & 7. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss
The Winklevoss twins Tyler and Cameron, each with a net worth of $4 billion in March, have seen their fortunes grow 72.5% over the past three quarters. As of December, the co-founders of crypto exchange Gemini have a net worth of $1.1 billion each, according to Forbes estimates.
Regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Gemini touts itself as a secure and regulated exchange relative to its unregulated foreign counterparts. However, on November 16, five days after FTX and Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy, Gemini announced that lending partner Genesis Global Capital was suspending withdrawals.
Gemini has promised its users ‘real interest’ through Gemini Earn by lending tokens to Genesis Global Capital. With the withdrawal halt, Gemini users are owed $900 million, the Financial Times reports. While some Gemini users are trying to credit the Winklevoss twins’ reputation, others are considering suing a class-action lawsuit, according to a Bloomberg report.
8. Barry Silbert
Barry Silbert is the CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of Genesis. Silbert’s net worth, which stood at $3.2 billion in March, has fallen to zero, according to Forbes estimates.
Genesis Global Capital, a key subsidiary of DCG, owes creditors at least $1.8 billion, including $900 million to Gemini Earn users, Reuters reports. Genesis has $1.1 billion in debt from a loan made to the now-defunct hedge fund 3AC, which parent company DCG absorbed. Additionally, DCG owes Genesis $575 million due in May 2023 and $350 million to investment firm Elridge in the event of Genesis’ collapse, the Financial Times reported.
DCG has around 200 investments in crypto and token companies, including crypto portal CoinDesk, bitcoin mining company Foundry, and Grayscale Investments. According to Forbes estimates, DCG’s outstanding liabilities are greater than the fair market value of the assets. Thus, the Forbes estimate puts the value of Silbert’s 40% stake in DCG at zero. It should be noted, however, that Forbes was unable to determine Silbert’s personal investments for the calculation.
9. Jed McCaleb
Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb has retained most of his personal wealth among the 17 crypto moguls listed. This is because McCaleb sold nearly all of his XRP holdings, worth about $2.5 billion, between December 2020 and July 2022, according to his agreement. separation agreement with Ripple. This allows McCaleb to exit the market before the crypto winter intensifies. According to Forbes estimates, McCaleb’s net worth of $2.5 billion in March stood at $2.4 billion in December.
10 & 11. Nikil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau
Web 3.0 co-founders Nikil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau have both lost their billionaire status since March. Forbes estimates put Viswanathan and Lau’s current personal worth at $600 million each, down from $2.4 billion each in March.
Forbes’ estimate of Viswanathan and Lau’s net worth is based on their share discount in Alchemy, valued at $10.2 billion in a February 2022 fundraising round.
12 & 13. Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah
The co-founders of leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, have also left the billionaire club. As NFT trading volume declined, Finzer and Atallahh’s net worth dropped 72.72% from $2.4 billion to $600 million each.
14. Fred Ehrsam
Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam’s crypto venture firm Paradigm has invested $278 million in FTX equity. Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang said that the company ‘regrets’ investing in a founder and that the company caused ‘huge damage to the ecosystem’.
Huang added that Paradigm’s investment in FTX represents a ‘small portion’ of its total assets. He also clarified that Models are not exposed to FTX tokens and do not have any assets on FTX.
Ehrsam has been silent about the FTX investment. However, with Coinbase’s share price plunging, Ehrsam’s personal wealth fell from $2.1 billion to $800 million.
15. Michael Saylor
MicroStrategy’s executive chairman and co-founder, Michael Saylor, a Bitcoin (BTC) whale, has lost assets due to the BTC price drop. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is down more than 75% from its all-time high in November 2021. Saylor’s net worth has dropped from $1.6 billion in March to 640 million dollars in December.
16. Matthew Roszak
Leading blockchain investor and advocate Matthew Roszak has lost 28.57% of his personal wealth. The net worth of the co-founder of Web 3.0 infrastructure company Bloq has dropped from $1.4 billion to $1 billion. Roszak’s investments include decentralized asset management platform Syndicate and the Qtum blockchain.
17. Tim Draper
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Timothy Draper, a Bitcoin whale with over 29,000 BTC, has also dropped from the billionaires list. Draper’s net worth fell 54.16% from $1.2 billion to $550 million.
Tags: Net Worth Drops Crypto Tycoons Lose Billionaire Status Months Report
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