The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the global economy since March 2020. Many stocks were hit by the panic behavior of investors who decided to dispose of a number of assets that were considered risky.
Bitcoin trading is no exception, the price of which fell 50 percent in a day during the first wave of the virus. This was followed by the fall in prices of other cryptocurrencies facing market uncertainty.
Even so, towards the end of the year this condition reversed with the increasing existence of Bitcoin and its friends. Twelve months later, the price of Bitcoin had surpassed USD 60,000 or more than Rp. 860 million per coin in March. A record that has never been touched before.
Likewise, the cumulative market capitalization value for crypto currency trading has touched more than USD 1.5 trillion or around IDR 21,600 trillion.
Instead of receding, Bitcoin is now strengthening its popularity after a number of giant companies participated in the market system they created. There are the names of the most successful electric car manufacturers in the world, Tesla and financial services Square Inc, which are spending Bitcoin as their investment portfolio.
Even cryptocurrencies are gradually starting to enter the banking system in the US. This is after one of the oldest banks in Uncle Sam’s country, BNY Mellon plans to allow its customers to transact with Bitcoin.
Along with the growth of this cryptocurrency market, it seems that several figures are taking part in mining the benefits of increasing Bitcoin trading.
12 of the World’s Richest People Born in Cryptocurrencies
- Sam Bankman-Fried
Wealth: USD 8.7 billion equivalent to IDR 127 trillion
Bankman-Fried is the world’s richest cryptocurrency billionaire and a newcomer to this lineup.
The 29-year-old MIT graduate founded quantitative trading firm Alameda Research and popular derivatives exchange FTX.
He became controversial in 2020 with a $5 million donation to the super-PAC that supported Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
- Brian Armstrong
Wealth: USD 6.5 billion equivalent to IDR 95 trillion
The wealth of the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase has more than six times increased from the previous only USD 1 billion or around Rp. 14.4 trillion last year.
Coinbase has gained immense popularity as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the US, and made over USD 1 billion last year. The company recently proposed to go public
- Chris Larsen
Wealth: USD 3.4 billion equivalent to IDR 49 trillion
The co-founder and chairman of Ripple increased his fortune by USD 800 million or around IDR 11.5 trillion as the value of his company’s XRP token soared. Larsen holds more than 3 billion XRP and a 17 percent stake in Ripple Labs.
- Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss
Wealth: USD 3 billion each equivalent to IDR 44 trillion
The two are twin brothers and former rowing athletes who had a legal battle with Mark Zuckerberg over allegations of concept theft when Zuckerberg launched Facebook. Cameron and Tyler then received compensation of USD 65 million at the time.
The two then converted the compensation money to invest in Bitcoin which has now doubled in value.
The brothers started buying bitcoins in 2012. They also launched crypto exchange Gemini and purchased digital art auction platform Nifty Gateway.
- Michael Saylor
Wealth: USD 2.3 billion equivalent to IDR 33 trillion
Saylor is a newcomer to this line of crypto billionaires. He was the CEO of the software company MicroStrategy, which had lost heavily during the first dot-com crash.
But the condition improved after he invested in Bitcoin long before it was as expensive as it is now, therefore his wealth also increased.
- Jed McCaleb
Wealth: USD 2 billion equivalent to IDR 28.9 trillion
McCaleb, another Ripple co-founder, derives most of his fortune from his 3.4 billion XRP holdings.
He also owns about 1 billion Stellar Lumens, a cryptocurrency he founded in 2014 after falling out with his Ripple counterparts.
- Fred Ehrsam
Wealth: USD 1.9 equivalent to IDR 27.4 trillion
Ehrsam co-founded Coinbase with Armstrong in 2012. He left the company in 2017 but remains on the board, and owns a 6 percent stake in the company which is worth about $1.9 billion. Currently, Ehrsam leads the crypto-focused investment firm, Paradigm.
- Changpeng Zhao
Wealth: USD 1.9 billion equivalent to IDR 27.4 trillion
Zhao is a Chinese-born businessman and started his crypto business in Canada. He is the founder of crypto exchange Binance and owns about a 30 percent stake in the company.
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