Crypto billionaires lose hundreds of billions of dollars

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, in November 2021, Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong’s fortune was $13.7 billion and about $8 billion at the end of March 2022, now this figure is only $2.2 billion.

Shares of Coinbase have dropped 84% since its first trading day in April 2021. After the company warned that monthly trading volume and users were expected to be lower in the second quarter than in the first quarter, the company’s shares continued to fall, closing at $53.72 on Jan. 11/5.

This has raised concerns about Coinbase’s ability to withstand a sharp drop in the price of the cryptocurrency. Armstrong had to write on Twitter to protect the reputation of the company: “Despite market volatility, without any risk of bankruptcy, users’ funds are safe.”

Armstrong is not the only billionaire to see his net worth “evaporate” billions of dollars.

The fortune of Michael Novogratz, CEO of cryptocurrency merchant bank Galaxy Digital from $8.5 billion at the beginning of November 2021 has also dropped to just $2.5 billion. Mr. Novogratz is a lover of TerraUSD, the algorithmic stablecoin in danger of total collapse.

“I am probably the only person in the world with both Bitcoin and Luna tattoos,” Novogratz shared at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami on April 6.

Billionaires’ crypto fortunes appear to be disappearing after a sell-off in tech stocks spilled over into cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, and Ether have all dropped more than 50% since hitting record highs late last year.

Almost all the assets of crypto players have decreased. The founders of exchanges are the ones who suffer the most.

On paper at least, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has lost an even larger fortune than Armstrong or Novogratz, from a whopping $96 billion in January 2022, to now only $11.6 billion left.

Cryptocurrency exchanges in the US appear to be suffering a steeper decline than their global competitors. Trading volume at Coinbase has been on a steady decline since the start of the year. Binance’s revenue last month was buoyant due to its focus on international markets, but the decline in Binance’s US business was even stronger than Coinbase’s.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of crypto exchange Gemini, have each lost about $2.2 billion (about 40% of their wealth) this year. The fortune of Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX exchange, has halved since the end of March to around $11.3 billion.

Armstrong isn’t the only billionaire at Coinbase to lose money. Co-founder Fred Ehrsam’s fortune, currently $1.1 billion, is down more than 60% this year. Armstrong owns 16% of Coinbase shares, and Ehrsam holds 4.5%.

Huong Dung (According to Bloomberg)