The World's 12 Richest Cryptocurrency Billionaires: 2025 Fortune Rankings
A rapidly changing crypto market
Between April 2024 and April 2025, the global cryptocurrency market almost tripled in value. Buoyed by the approval of bitcoin spot ETFs in the US, the sector's capitalization now exceeds 2,600 billion dollarswith bitcoin approaching 73 000 $.
But price is not the only factor driving this growth. The ecosystem has evolved: institutionalization, increase in regulation, explosion in stablecoin profits... and above all, the emergence a new financial elite.
Here are the 12 personalities who now dominate the sector.
🏆 The 12 cryptocurrency billionaires in 2025
1. Changpeng "CZ" Zhao - 29 to 53 billion $
Founder of Binance - United Arab Emirates
Source 90 % from Binance, BNB, BTC
CZ remains the richest man in the crypto sector, despite legal proceedings in the USA and a 4-month prison stint for AML (anti-money laundering) violations. His fortune is directly linked to the health of Binancethe world's leading exchange platform.
Since 2024, Binance has published a full monthly proof of reserves. CZ also announced the launch of Web3 educational programs in the Middle East, an expansion of the BNB Chain and investments in AI.
Safety & compliance :
- Triple KYC
- On-chain monitoring with Chainalysis
- SAFU 2.0 (insurance fund)
- Proof of independent reserves
2. Brian Armstrong - 11.2 billion $
CEO & co-founder, Coinbase - United States
Source : 19 % from Coinbase
Coinbase is now the preferred platform for institutional investors thanks to its regulated status. Armstrong led the initial public offering, developed Basea Layer 2 Ethereum network, and reinforced compliance with SOC 2 audits.
It lobbies for a clear regulatory framework in the United States and actively cooperates with the authorities.
Strategic advantages :
- L2 performance : Base
- Widespread cold storage
- Full KYC + external audits
- Massive adoption of Coinbase Custody ETFs
3. Chris Larsen - 9.2 billion $
Executive Chairman, Ripple - United States
Source XRP reserve + 17 % from Ripple
XRP exploded in 2024 with the arrival of a pro-crypto US government. Ripple is now a partner of 14 central banks for the issuance of CBDC (central bank digital currencies). Larsen, a pioneer in decentralized interbank finance, is taking full advantage of this dynamic.
4. Michael Saylor - 9 to 10 billion $
Executive Chairman, MicroStrategy - United States
Source 12 % from MicroStrategy + 17,732 BTC pers.
Long-tail SEO : "cyber-hodl treasury strategy
A bitcoin visionary and maximalist, Saylor has transformed MicroStrategy into a digital store of value. His combined portfolio approaches 214,000 BTCmore than most countries.
He advocates a strategy of Bitcoin-native cash flowcalled "cyber-hodl": 0 diversification, 100 % conviction.
5. Giancarlo Devasini - 8.7 billion $
CFO of Tether and Bitfinex - Italy
Source : 47 % from Tether
Tether generated 6,200,000 000$ profits in 2023 solely via interest on USDT reserves, invested in US Treasury bonds. Devasini is the architect of this profitability.
He also oversees eco-responsible mining projects (Volcano Energy in El Salvador) and Tether's regulatory transparency.
6. Justin Sun - 8.5 billion $
Founder, Tron - Hong Kong
80 % of USDT transfers are made on Tron. Justin Sun launched USDTan interest-bearing stablecoin backed by Treasury bonds. It gives a strong push to tokenization of real assets (RWA) and decentralized sovereign financing.
7. Paolo Ardoino - 9.5 billion $
CEO, Tether - Italy
Devasini's official successor at the helm of Tether, Ardoino embodies the new "proof + power" strategy: USDT backed by clean BTC production via 1 GW of mining farms in the United States.
8. Stuart Hoegner - 2.5 billion $
General Counsel, Tether - Canada
A lawyer and chartered accountant, "Stu" is Tether's compliance officer. He led the transition to quarterly independent audits with BDO, introduced OFAC procedures and strengthened traceability via Chainalysis.
9. Tim Draper - 2 billion $
VC & bitcoin hodler - United States
Draper still holds his 29,656 BTC bought at 632 $ each. He supports crypto start-ups in security, AI, DAO, and continues to predict a BTC at 250,000 $. A veteran who inspires the Web3 community.
10. Mike Novogratz - 2.5 to 4.6 billion $
CEO, Galaxy Digital - United States
Novogratz has diversified Galaxy Digital: crypto banking, asset management, venture capital. Galaxy co-manages a ETF spot BTC with Invesco and develops innovative derivatives such as covered call BTC in DeFi.
11. Joe Lau - 1.56 billion $
CTO, Alchemy - United States
Lau oversees the world's most widely used Web3 infrastructure. Alchemy serves over 70 % of on-chain requests on Ethereum via its APIs.
12. Nikil Viswanathan - 1.5 billion $
CEO, Alchemy - United States
Under his leadership, Alchemy has won over Web3 developers. Expansion underway towards ZK-rollupsthe DePIN (physical decentralized infrared), and theAlchemy Data API for complex queries.
🧠 Trends 2025: where does the money go?
- Dominant Stablecoins USDT, stUSDT, USDC at yield (real-world-assets tokenized).
- Layer 2 booming Base, Arbitrum, ZKSync.
- ETF spot accelerating institutional adoption.
- DeFi 2.0 derivatives, collateral-free lending and liquid staking.
🔐 Control & safety: the other side of the coin
- KYC/AML strengthened triple level + detection AI (e.g. Chainalysis, Elliptic).
- Regular audits BDO (Tether), Mazars (Binance), SOC 2 (Coinbase).
- Cold storage 70 % of assets now offline.
- Proof-of-reserves monthly at Binance.
📊 Crypto billionaires 2025 FAQ
Who's the richest in cryptocurrency?
CZ Zhao with an estimated fortune of between 29 and 53 billion $.
Why does Tether earn so much?
Thanks to the investment of reserves in Treasury bills, generating 6.2 G $ in profits in 2023.
Who are the newcomers to the ranking?
Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau (Alchemy) enter thanks to the Web3 boom.
✍️ Conclusion
The landscape of crypto fortunes in 2025 is no longer made up of anonymous geeks but of seasoned executives, legal strategistsand digital infrastructure architects.
Wealth is no longer built solely on the price of bitcoin, but on the structure Web3 : regulation, compliance, stability, innovation.
👉 If you're working on a website, blog or crypto media, target keywords uncompetitive long tail such as :
"cyber-hodl strategy Saylor" regulation, and still others prefer to speculate on the value of tokens.
"proof-of-reserves Binance
"RWA tokenization Tron
"Alchemy API market share
"CBDC corridor Ripple
Frequently asked questions FAQ
Who will be the new crypto billionaires of 2025?
In 2025, several investors and creators in the crypto world have joined the list of billionaires.
Mostly found are exchange platform executives, blockchain project founders and investors who made early bets on Bitcoin or other digital assets.
Which countries have the most crypto billionaires?
The United States remains in the lead with the majority of crypto billionaires, thanks to a highly innovation-friendly ecosystem.
China, Singapore and some European countries, such as Switzerland, are also home to many of the sector's major fortunes.
What is Dustin Moskovitz's estimated crypto-related wealth in 2025?
Dustin Moskovitz, best known as co-founder of Facebook, also holds part of his fortune in crypto-currencies.
By 2025, his total wealth exceeds several billion dollars, even if the crypto portion remains less visible than among other billionaires in the sector.
How has the price of Bitcoin changed in 2025?
In 2025, Bitcoin has seen huge fluctuations.
Its price has climbed steadily to new heights, driven by institutional interest and falling reserves on exchange platforms.
Which crypto-currency offered the best profits in 2025?
In 2025, some crypto-currencies have exploded in terms of performance. In some periods, they have even surpassed Bitcoin.
Innovative projects, especially in decentralized finance or non-fungible tokens (NFT), have really attracted attention. Early investors were able to benefit from impressive returns.
It's amazing how much some of these new projects have appreciated in value. Who would have bet on that a year ago?
How many people have become millionaires thanks to crypto-currencies up to 2025?
Since Bitcoin's inception, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have managed to become millionaires by betting on crypto-currencies.
Some jumped at the chance right from the start, while others simply took advantage of recent price rises.
