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2022 was a tumultuous year for the cryptocurrency world, with multiple high-profile bankruptcies, record-breaking scams, and fraud.
In early 2022, the war between Russia and Ukraine united the cryptocurrency community, and people around the world demonstrated their unity by using cryptocurrencies to donate and support Ukraine. The Terra-Luna collapse then rocked the community as prices crashed and a bear market solidified. Amidst the shockwave of the Terra Luna debacle, a slew of bankruptcies followed, starting with Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Voyager Digital, and Celsius.
Bankruptcies aside, some crypto businesses, especially lenders, have been struggling with liquidity in the aftermath of the 3AC collapse. At that time, FTX and its then-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) emerged as the “Knight in Shining Armor” by funding companies facing liquidity problems.
SBF continued to move among Washington’s elite political circles, becoming the second largest contributor to President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and lobbying for regulation of cryptocurrencies. A few months later, on November 11th, FTX declared bankruptcy and SBF was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States on December 21st after discovering mismanagement of customer funds.
The crypto market’s rollercoaster journey has pushed the prices of all major cryptocurrencies well below their all-time highs in 2021. Over the course of the year, nearly $2 trillion was eroded from the cryptocurrency market cap.
The average cryptocurrency investor lost tens of billions of dollars in 2022 as seemingly well-performing companies like Celsius and FTX collapsed overnight.
According to Forbes estimates, 17 of cryptocurrency’s richest founders, investors and advocates have lost a combined $116 billion in personal fortunes since March 2022. Fifteen of these cryptocurrency moguls lost more than half their fortunes, while ten lost their billionaire status and three lost their entire fortune. luck.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is the richest cryptocurrency personality whose personal wealth has plummeted over the past nine months. CZ’s net worth plummeted 93.07% from his $65 billion in March to his $4.5 billion in December.
SBF, the second-richest cryptocurrency mogul with a net worth of $24 billion in March, is estimated to have lost 100% of his fortune. SBF is currently under house arrest pending indictment on multiple fraud charges.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s net worth fell 75% from $6 billion in March to $1.5 billion in December. In the aftermath of the FTX collapse, Armstrong advertised In contrast to Binance, it is on the “hard road” of a “regulated and trusted approach.” However, Coinbase’s share price has fallen 64% since August and has fallen 95% since its $100 billion IPO. A drop of over 100% has resulted in the loss of most of Armstrong’s wealth.
Like SBF, FTX co-founder and former CTO Gary Wang has lost all of his $5.9 billion net worth since March. Wang pleaded guilty to criminal charges, along with former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. statement Wang and Ellison are cooperating in a lawsuit against SBF.
Ripple co-founder and fifth-richest crypto personality, Chris Larsen, has lost 51% of his personal fortune. From his $4.3 billion in March, Larsen’s net worth plummeted to his $1.2 billion as of December.
Winklevoss brothers Tyler and Cameron, who each had net worths of $4 billion in March, have seen their fortunes fall 72.5% over the past three quarters. As of December, the co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini each have a net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
Regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Gemini has marketed itself as a safe and regulated exchange compared to offshore unregulated exchanges.However, on Nov. 16, five days after FTX and Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy, Gemini announced Its lending partner, Genesis Global Capital, had suspended the withdrawal of funds.
Gemini promised real returns to its users via Gemini Earn by lending its tokens to Genesis Global Capital. The suspension of withdrawals owes the Gemini user his $900 million, according to the Financial Times. reportAccording to Bloomberg, some Gemini users are willing to believe the reputation of the Winklevoss twins, while others are considering starting a class action lawsuit. report.
Barry Silbert is the CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of Genesis, a cryptocurrency conglomerate. According to Forbes estimates, Silbert’s net worth has dropped to zero, where he was $3.2 billion in March.
DCG’s main arm, Genesis Global Capital, owes at least $1.8 billion to creditors, according to Reuters. reportGenesis had $1.1 billion in debt from loans to the now-defunct hedge fund 3AC, which was absorbed by parent company DCG. Additionally, according to the Financial Times, DCG says he owes Genesis his $575 million by May 2023, and that he will pay $350 million to investment firm Elridge in case Genesis goes bankrupt. I owe you $10,000. report.
DCG has around 200 investments in crypto companies and tokens, including crypto news portal CoinDesk, bitcoin mining company Foundry, and Grayscale Investments. Forbes estimates that DCG’s outstanding debt exceeds the fair market value of its assets. Therefore, Forbes estimates the value of Silbert’s 40% stake in DCG to be zero. Note, however, that Forbes was unable to determine Silbert’s personal investments due to calculations.
Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb held most of his personal wealth among the 17 listed cryptocurrency moguls. This is because McCaleb sold nearly all of his XRP holdings worth about $2.5 billion between his December 2020 and his July 2022. resignation letter with ripple. This allowed McCaleb to exit the market before the crypto winter intensified. According to Forbes estimates, McCaleb’s net worth in March was $2.5 billion, while in December he was at $2.4 billion.
Web 3.0 development platform co-founders Nikil Viswanathan and Joseph Lau have lost their billionaire status since March. Forbes estimates that Viswanathan and Lau’s personal fortunes are now worth $600 million each, down from $2.4 billion each in March.
Forbes’ estimate of Vishwanathan and Lau’s net worth is based on a price cut in Alchemy’s shares valued at $10.2 billion in a February 2022 funding round.
Devin Finzer and Alex Atallah, co-founders of OpenSea, a leading non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, have also left the billionaire’s club. Finzer’s and Atallahh’s net worths each fell from $2.4 billion to his $600 million as NFT’s trading volumes collapsed, down 72.72%.
Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam’s crypto venture Paradigm had invested $278 million in FTX shares. Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang said the company “regrets” investing in founders and companies that “wound a lot of damage to the ecosystem.”
Huang added that Paradigm’s investment in FTX represents only a “small fraction” of its total assets. He also revealed that Paradigm is not exposed to his FTX token FTT and has no assets in FTX.
Ehrsam has been quiet about investing in FTX. But as Coinbase’s stock plummeted, Ehrsam’s personal fortune fell from his $2.1 billion to his $800 million.
Bitcoin (BTC) whale MicroStrategy executive chairman and co-founder Michael Thaler has lost his fortune due to a drop in the price of BTC. It’s down more than 75% from its all-time high. Thaler’s net worth has shrunk from $1.6 billion in his March to $640 million in his December.
Leading blockchain investor and advocate Matthew Roszak has lost 28.57% of his personal fortune. The co-founder of Web 3.0 infrastructure company Bloq has seen his net worth drop from $1.4 billion to $1 billion. Roszak’s investments include decentralized asset management platform Syndicate and the Qtum blockchain.
Timothy Draper, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and over 29,000 BTC Bitcoin whale, has also been dropped from the list of billionaires. Draper’s net worth has decreased by her 54.16% from $1.2 billion to her $550 million.
