This year’s crypto slump caused three people to fall off of the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.
Key Details
- Cryptocurrencies have had a rough few months—now its top investors have been feeling the shake of this slump.
- Last year, seven crypto billionaires were named on the Forbes 400 list of richest americans.
- After crypto numbers drastically fell only four of the seven remain on the list.
Why it’s news
The richest crypto moguls in America have lost billions over the last year as Bitcoin plunged from over $60,000 to below $20,000, shares of exchange Coinbase plunged more than 75% and the total market value of all cryptocurrencies halved, from about $2.2 trillion to under $1 trillion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Last year, the names of seven crypto billionaires were added to the Forbes 400 list of richest americans. Now, only three remain.
Crypto hit record highs last year with Bitcoin reaching as much as $69,000 in November. Many analysts predicted that 2022 would be the year of crypto—but it was the opposite.
This year has been a rough one for all cryptocurrencies. June and July were especially brutal months for crypto as the market faced a major sell-off.
Bitcoin dropped 37.3% in June alone, giving it the largest fall since 2011. The sell-off was triggered by inflation fears and investors trying to liquidate. The major sell-off caused job cuts in many crypto companies and even forced some lenders to pause withdrawals. Coinbase shares have dropped more than 60% as well this year due to the tech-stock selloff.
The major sell-offs caused many investors to lose a lot of money and contributed to some of the billionaires getting booted from the 400 list.
The four crypto billionaires remaining on the list are…
- Sam Bankman-Fried with a net worth of $17.2 billion (down from $22.5 billion)
- Gary Wang with a networth of $4.6 billion
- Chris Larsen with a net worth of $2.8 billion (down from $6 billion)
- Brian Armstrong with a net worth of $2.7 billion (down from $11.5 billion)
The three billionaires booted from the list…
- Twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss with a networth of $2.2 billion each (down from $4.3 billion)
- Jed McCaleb with a networth of $2.5 billion (down from $3 billion)
- Fred Ehrsam with a networth of $1.1 billion (down from $3.5 billion)