Bitcoin is down and crypto portfolios of small investors have taken a hit. But if it gives any consolation, the fortunes of crypto billionaires have also been slashed 50-60% in the recent week.
Crypto Markets have suffered considerable losses in the past few weeks. And with that, we are again in the zone where people ask ‘is bitcoin going to zero? Crypto fear and greed index shows a value of 14, which means extreme fear in the market.
The crumbling market has led to a huge recession in the personal fortunes of crypto billionaires. Brian Armstrong is the founder of US-based crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. His total fortune was recorded at $13.7 billion in November during the good days of bitcoin. As of this week, Armstrong just has $2.2 billion in his name, just enough to let him keep the title of Billionaire.
Coinbase is the first-ever publicly listed crypto exchange in the world. The value of COIN stocks plummeted sharply after the slash in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices. This led to the tumbling value of Armstrong’s 16% stake in the company.
Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance has suffered an even bigger loss in fortune than Armstrong. In January, CZ’s net worth was recorded at $96 Billion. After a cut down in the trading volume of Binance CZ’s wealth shrunk to $11.6 billion.
The co-founders of Gemini crypto exchange, Cameroon Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss have each lost 40% of their net worth. The fortune of Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX crypto exchange has also fallen 50% since March this year.
The crop of crypto billionaires that came up during the last two years is the ones at the biggest loss right now. Founders of crypto exchanges have their fortunes slashed more than half with trading volume tumbling.