Bitcoin is a popular digital asset for investment. Users of blockchain technology prefer virtual money more than traditional currencies. Some investors in international and stock financial markets have also started to invest personal capital in the digital coin Bitcoin. There are also people who got rich on bitcoins in Russia. Here is the detailed information about these investors.
Top BTC millionaires
There are large companies and cryptocurrency exchanges, whose wallets occupy places in the top 10 in terms of capital. However, they are not included in the rating of the richest people. This is due to the storage of bitcoins on them at once dozens and hundreds of investors and traders. Also, large platforms sometimes use cold wallets for this purpose. This is due to their responsibility to all depositors.
“Cold” wallet is an account without access to the Internet. Private and public keys are stored on a physical device. This increases the security of the collected bitcoin investments.
Satoshi Nakamoto
This person or group of programmers is the main developer of the Bitcoin payment system with the eponymous cryptocurrency. By 2024, the exact identity of the creator has not yet been established. Cryptocurrency users, journalists and other people have tried to do this.
Satoshi Nakamoto’s idea to develop a decentralized payment system and cryptocurrency was successful. In 2009, the Bitcoin blockchain officially became operational with the launch of the first blockchain.
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Nakamoto became the first BTC miner. Users of the virtual asset know that bitcoin mining before block #36,288 in the cryptocurrency network was engaged in only one computer, which belonged to Satoshi.
The capital of the creator of Bitcoin is divided into hundreds of wallets. Part of them stores only 50 bitcoins each. The total capital of this person is more than 1.14 million BTC. At the end of October 2021, at the peak of the bitcoin price ($66,875), the creator’s savings in BTC equated to the equivalent of more than $76 billion.
For storing Bitcoin, investors additionally received the cryptocurrency during network hardforks (“hard” blockchain upgrades, which usually result in a bifurcation of the network with new digital coins). There have been about 20 of these in 2018:
Satoshi Nakamoto also got cryptocurrency, so his total capital is over $80 billion (as of October 2021).
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
These people who got rich from bitcoins are among the world’s first cryptocurrency billionaires. The Winklevoss twins are not only known for their large capital in cryptocurrency. In 2022, they wanted to create a social network to connect Harvard students. As the main developer, the brothers hired Mark Zuckerberg. However, he stole the idea and created a platform that later became the most popular in the world.
As a result of a settlement agreement in 2008, the Winklevosses received 65 million dollars from Zuckerberg as compensation. This story was screened in the movie “The Social Network”.
After this case, Cameron and Tyler began investing money in cryptocurrency. In the summer of 2012, the Winklevosses bought bitcoins at $10 per coin. Following this, the BTC rate began to grow rapidly. At the end of 2017, the return on investment was variously estimated to be between 160,000 and 310,000 percent. The total capital of the brothers was estimated at $1.5 billion.
After investing well in bitcoin, Cameron and Tyler continued to invest in cryptocurrency. The brothers bought Ethereum and other digital assets. Almost every coin purchased generated a large amount of income.
As of 2021, the total number of bitcoins in the brothers’ wallets is equal to 1.5 million pieces. According to the October market rate, the Winklevosses’ fortune is estimated at $100 billion.
Michael Novogratz
This man owns the following statement: “Invest some money in Bitcoin. Come back in a few years and your investment will be worth much more”.
Michael is an American trader, former hedge fund manager and owner of Fortress Investment Group.
He was able to quickly rebuild his personal capital after the global crisis of 2007-2008 thanks to cryptocurrencies. Thirteen years later, Michael became a dollar billionaire.
In 2013, this man invested 20% of his personal savings in bitcoin – bought at a price of about $200 per coin. Michael didn’t touch the investment for over 4 years. Only in the fall of 2017, at Bitcoin’s value of $8,000, he sold the digital assets. This was facilitated by Michael’s partner Pete Bridger, who had previously insisted that Bitcoins should not be sold at $1,000. According to his belief Bitcoin should have grown even higher. That’s exactly what happened.
In October 2021, the investor holds 42,000 BTC. With a value of $66,000, Michael’s capital is equal to almost $3 billion.
The American investor has invested in Ethereum as well. In 2015, Michael came to Brooklyn to discuss a new startup and at dinner met Vitalik Buterin, who did not rise on bitcoins in Russia, but created his own cryptocurrency.
The chief developer of Ethereum offered the investor to buy coins at $0.98. While Michael was thinking about it, the price of the digital asset rose to $0.99. This added to the investor’s cryptocurrency enthusiasm.
Roger Ver
This man has been involved in cryptocurrency advocacy. He has been making statements about bitcoins since 2011. Roger Ver’s main goals are to learn information about Bitcoin and blockchain technology and to introduce digital assets into people’s lives. His company Memory Dealers was one of the first companies to adopt bitcoin as a virtual means of payment.
Ver started cryptocurrency activities in 2011. Then he invested $1 million dollars in various bitcoin projects, but not every investment turned out to be a success. Roger often lost money, but managed to keep faith in cryptocurrency.
The investor believed that Bitcoin’s blockchain should adjust to customers. One day during a debate, Roger Ver said that the Bitcoin Core team was not fulfilling its obligations to the users of the BTC digital network. The investor saw bitcoin as an everyday currency.
As a result of criticism and attempts to address the limitations of the Bitcoin network, Ver along with the Bitcoin Core team conducted a hardfork. The new network uses the BCH cryptocurrency. The investor made a statement that the Bitcoin Cash blockchain is the right Bitcoin as Nakamoto saw it.
It is possible to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of Bitcoin Cash in relation to Bitcoin. They are reflected in the table.
| Pros | Minuses |
|---|---|
| Scalability: the token processes more transactions | Does not enjoy the same trust of investors |
| Small commissions | Small number of trading pairs |
| Less overloaded mempool | – |
According to various information, Ver owns 300,000 Bitcoin coins. At the October BTC market rate, the investor’s capital is equal to $20 billion.
Charlie Shrem
This person learned about cryptocurrency from the news about the illegal drug trading site Silk Road. Charlie’s first attempts to invest in the digital coin bitcoin did not bring success.
After failing in the cryptocurrency market, Shrem became Gareth Nelson’s partner. Together, they created the digital exchange BitInstant in 2011. At the first stages, the service was a simple exchange of Bitcoin for other currencies. The capital for the creation of the platform was $10,000 from Charlie’s mother. After the launch of the project, the prospects of the platform were evaluated by Roger Ver. He invested $125,000 in the cryptocurrency exchange BitInstant.
In late 2012, brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevossy invested $1.5 million in the project of Charlie and his partner. The purpose of the investment was to buy bitcoins. The Winklevoss brothers asked the creators of BitInstant to do so.
Even since the creation of the cryptocurrency exchange, Charlie bought bitcoins at a price of $3 per piece. There is different information online, but according to the average data, this person owns about 100,000 Bitcoin coins. As of October 2021, at the peak value of bitcoin, the investor’s total net worth was over $6.5 billion.
Anthony Gallipi
In 2011, this person got involved in the creation of the cryptocurrency service BitPay. It processes payments with digital coins. The BitPay card allows customers of the cryptocurrency service to transfer bitcoins into fiat and receive money on credit cards with Visa payment system. BitPay continues to operate in 2024.
After the success of BitPay, the developer began to be considered an expert in the field of virtual money. In 2013, the US Congress personally called the creator of the service to discuss issues about cryptocurrency assets.
In 2024, Anthony is a wealthy investor. His accounts hold more than 34,000 bitcoins. The total capital is estimated at $2.25 billion.
Eric Finman
This young investor bought his first BTC at the age of 12. At that time, he invested $1,000 in bitcoins. Eric Finman quickly accumulated a large capital. In 2024 he is already investing in space and medical technologies.
Eric considers cash as nothing compared to cryptocurrency. This accounts for his preference to “sleep on bitcoins”.
At the age of 15, Eric Finman sold his Bitcoins and realized $100,000 in proceeds. The young investor invested the money he received in his own business – he created a video chat for distance learning Botangle. This activity distracted Eric from his studies, so his parents had a negative attitude towards the teenager’s activities.
The young investor decided to make a bet with his father and mother. Its essence was the following: if Eric earns 1 million dollars by adulthood, his parents will put up with their son’s occupations. In 2017, an investor won the bet.
To reach the goal, Eric Finman sold the business for 300 bitcoins. However, trading cryptocurrency allowed him to accumulate 400 BTC by his adulthood. On Eric’s birthday, the coin was worth $6,000. In 2017, his capital was estimated at $2.4 million.
Later, the investor told that he was tired of bitcoin. However, in 2021, his fortune in BTC is still estimated at $26 million.
Tim Draper
This is the founder of the venture capital hedge fund firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The investor is known to the cryptocurrency community for the following case: in 2014, Tim Draper bought all 29,656 BTC auctioned by the US FSB. Then, after the illegal Silk Road site was shut down, federal authorities seized its accounts and gained control of the criminals’ wallets.
In late 2016, Tim predicted Bitcoin’s rapid rise to $10,000 in December 2017. Among analysts, the investor had the most optimistic opinion about bitcoin. The forecast came true, and in 2017, the BTC chart even touched the $20,000 mark. However, the resistance level it was not able to “break through”. Later, the trend of price movement changed and became bearish (a long decline in asset value).
In 2024, Tim Draper believes that the payment system and cryptocurrency BTC will overturn the traditional financial markets. However, this is what most millionaire investors who have amassed large capitals on digital money think.
Tim Draper owns 30,000 Bitcoin coins. In October 2021, the investor’s fortune is estimated at $2 billion.
Which celebrities are investing in Bitcoin
Bitcoins are bought by many different people. Some of them include world-class celebrities:
- Boxers.
- Rap performers.
- Hollywood actors.
- Famous engineers, programmers and computer inventors.
Some got a good profit from their investments, while others promote cryptocurrency and create new digital coins.
Mike Tyson
The legendary boxer has earned the most on Bitcoin cryptocurrency among sports celebrities. Mike noticed the cryptocurrency back in 2015. On his Twitter, the investor said that he was going to invest his personal money in the development of blockchain technology and Bitcoin coins. The team to which Mike provided funding developed ATMs to buy BTC.
The project was realized six months after the investor’s Twitter post. The new crypto-machines made it possible to buy bitcoins in just 20 seconds. Around the same time, Bitcoin Direct, a company funded by Mike, released the Mike Tyson Digital Wallet mobile app, giving users the ability to store BTC and trade virtual assets from anywhere there is an internet connection.
Snoop Dogg
The famous performer became one of the first users of cryptocurrency among celebrities. Snoop Dogg did not know about investments and even less about digital blockchain technology. However, in 2013, the performer began selling the new album Reincarnated not for dollars, but for BTC.
The record cost buyers 0.3 bitcoin. At that time, this amount was small – about 15 dollars. But as of October 31, 2021, the price of the album would have been $18,200.
It is not known exactly how much BTC exactly Snoop Dogg managed to accumulate. However, there is information that in 2013 the record sold 50,000 copies in the United States alone and brought the artist 15,000 Bitcoin coins.
If Snoop Dogg hadn’t sold his digital assets, he would have more than $900 million in his account just because of the album’s sales in the US.
Steve Wozniak
The co-founder of the American corporation Apple first became acquainted with Bitcoin at the dawn of cryptocurrency development. But Wozniak decided to invest in the virtual coin only in 2016. At the time of purchase, the price of bitcoin was equal to about 700 dollars.
In one of his interviews, Steve Wozniak admitted that he wanted to invest in BTC earlier. However, the poorly developed cryptocurrency industry did not allow him to do so. Wozniak also revealed that the idea to invest in bitcoin came as an experiment. The inventor is known for his lack of addiction to money, so for him, getting profit from investments was not the main goal. However, Wozniak did not admit what the experiment was all about.
The exact amount of cryptocurrency on Wozniak’s wallet was not disclosed. It is only known that he sold all digital assets in 2017, when the price of BTC almost reached $20,000. The inventor explained it by the fact that he sees a happy life without encumbrances, and every day he does not want to monitor the cost of Bitcoin.
Who got rich on bitcoins in Russia
One such investor is Yuri Dromashko. This man since 2016 owns a large mining center in Irkutsk, where the main part of the mining equipment is efficient ASIC S9. This is computer hardware, honed to perform calculations only in the Bitcoin network.
Since 2016, a lot has changed: the investor got rich on BTC, and the Irkutsk region began to mine about 10% of bitcoins in the world. This is facilitated by cheap electricity in the region – 1.23 rubles per 1 kWh in 2021.
Summary
Different people invest in BTC – from savvy investors to celebrities who are professionals only in their field of expertise.
Also, bitcoin is well regarded mostly by engineers and programmers. They are able to assess the prospects of cryptocurrency assets more deeply, so they often invest in them themselves.
One of those who got rich on bitcoins in the Russian Federation is Yuri Dromashko. He owns a large mining farm in Irkutsk in 2024. Yuri placed the center for mining virtual money here because of cheap electricity.
Frequently Asked Questions
🥱 Why is Eric Finman tired of BTC?
The young investor admitted in early 2020 that Bitcoin has changed a lot for the worse since the coin’s inception. In his opinion, more members of the cryptocurrency community will see prospects in digital assets like Zcash and Monero in a global crisis.
📈 Has Bitcoin exhausted its potential for growth?
In 2021, Bitcoin has been around for 12 years. During this time, the cryptocurrency industry has seen thousands of projects that seem more promising to investors, so theoretically BTC could lose relevance in the coming years.
❓ Snoop Dogg continues to use cryptocurrency?
In 2021, the famous performer bought an NFT token, an animated work called Some Asshole. Non-Fungible Token technology refers to cryptocurrency, so Snoop Dogg is definitely continuing to use digital assets.
🤫 What is Satoshi Nakamoto doing now?
In 2011, the BTC creator suddenly disappeared after announcing that he was moving on to new projects. There has been no information on what exactly Satoshi Nakamoto will be doing.
❗ What ideas did the Winklevoss brothers put into ConnectU?
Cameron and Tyler attended Harvard University and were aware of the challenges of student communication outside of school hours. Their main goal was to enable students to quickly connect and find each other by name and photo on the same social network.
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Author: Saifedean Ammous, an expert in cryptocurrency economics.
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