Crypto Billionaires’ Collective Wealth Drops Significantly Amid Bearish Market Conditions

Three billionaires previously included on Forbes 400 have been knocked out of the list, while four remaining billionaires have suffered huge losses amid the crypto winter in which major cryptocurrencies have seen a sharp decline in prices.

The crypto market downturn has affected many blockchain projects, exchanges and even their founders. Forbes reported last year that a record seven crypto billionaires made it to the Forbes 400 list last fall when Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, was moving gradually to a new all-time high.

However, only four of these crypto billionaires remain on this year’s list, the outlet said in a recent report. These billionaires include Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX crypto exchange and the white knight of the crypto industry; Gary Wang, Bankman-Fried’s right-hand man; Chris Larsen, co-founder and chairman of crypto payments firm Ripple and Brian Armstrong, the person behind the crypto exchange Coinbase.

Forbes noted that Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, is the wealthiest person in the crypto space, although his net worth dropped to $17.2 billion from $22.5 billion due to the current crypto crash.

Wang, on the other hand, is ranked 227th on the list with a net worth of around $4.6 billion. He is FTX’s chief technical officer and co-founder and owns around 16% of the crypto exchange.

As for Larsen, his net worth declined to $2.8 billion from $6 billion amid Ripple’s conflict with the Securities and Exchange Commissions. He now occupies the 380th spot on the list.

Finally, Armstrong, whose exchange Coinbase has suffered major losses this year, saw his net worth decline to $2.7 billion from $11.5 billion. He is currently no. 388 on the list.

The three individuals who are no longer part of the Forbes 400 include Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin brothers who formed the crypto exchange Gemini. Their current net worth is $2.2 billion each. Last year, each of them had a net worth of $4.3 billion.

There is also Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Mt. Gox, the first-ever Bitcoin exchange. His net worth dropped to $2.5 billion from $3 billion.

Lastly, Fred Ehrsam, who co-founded Coinbase alongside Armstrong and left the company in 2017 while retaining his board position, saw his net worth drop to $1.1 billion from $3.5 billion.