How Many Bitcoin Millionaires Are There?

By Prashant Jha

Bitcoin, which was invented in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto as a modern decentralized cashless financial network, has come a long way from being just an internet trend. Bitcoin has become a legitimate investment option and new entrants investing in it dream of becoming millionaires or billionaires at some point.

However, in order to achieve the millionaire status, one has to be patient and invest the money smartly. People should have a good knowledge of the cryptocurrency market and the major factors which drive the market.

The price volatility of Bitcoin is both good and bad, good for new investors who missed the early train while bad for those who invested in it at its peak. It’s tough to estimate the exact number of Bitcoin millionaires out there since the price volatility can make someone a millionaire in a matter of few weeks, and even bring down the fortunes of many millionaires in the same period.

Since Bitcoin is a digital currency and known to bring in the privacy factor, only the transactions from the wallet can be traced through the Bitcoin Blockchain node and the exact amount of holding cannot be predicted.

A total of 23,943 Bitcoin address globally holds a million worth of Bitcoin while only 3 Bitcoin addresses are said to have a fortune over a Billion dollar in Bitcoin holdings. However, the number might be far more, given most of the Bitcoin traders who have made millions out of it want to remain anonymous.

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What Made Bitcoin Such An Attractive Investment

Many early birds who saw the potential in Blockchain technology and the idea of decentralization in cryptocurrency were laughing to the bank when Bitcoin hit an all-time high of around $20,000.

Many angel investors who have been in the trading game for long realized that a concept which started at a zero value and has surpassed the value of Gold in a matter of a couple of years has a long way to go.

As Tim Draper explained, when the Bitcoin was rising the trade market charts and has recently garnered attention for its rise, a heist on the crypto exchange MT. GOX led to the theft of $460 millions worth of Bitcoin. This must have been an early end for another internet phenomenon, but investors like Tim Draper were surprised to see that Bitcoin not only got past this disaster but actually rose even more rapidly than before, convincing investors like him that Bitcoin is here to stay.

Tim Draper bought an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin which was confiscated by the law agencies after the shutdown of dark-web marketplace SilkRoad.

You May Also Read: Bitcoin History

Famous Bitcoin Millionaires

Bitcoin has made many early investors millionaires and even billionaires depending upon the amount of early investment. The major contributor to the increased number of millionaires in the world was the 2017 bullish rise of Bitcoin which saw the prices rise from a mere $800 in January to a whopping value of around $20k for each Bitcoin by the end of December 2017.

Here are a few famous millionaires who saw their investment rise many folds by December 2017 and a few thousand worths of early investment making them millionaires and even billionaires in some cases.

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The Winklevoss Twins

They are probably the face of Bitcoin success story as the Bitcoin billionaires were known to the world even before their tryst with the digital currency. Currently, they are worth $900 million to $1 billion worth each.

The Winklevoss Twins who accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea of Facebook made $6 million in settlements. They invested a major part into the Bitcoin phenomenon in 2012 and even saw the first massive price fall exceeding 80% in 2013. The twins currently own the Gemini Exchange which trades around $300 million worth of crypto in daily trading volumes.

Charlie Shrem

Shrem started investing in Bitcoin from his early senior years in college back in 2011 but was frustrated with the trading prospect through exchanges which were painstakingly slow. Along with a friend, he started a company called BitInstant for easy trading of the Bitcoin.

However, he had to spend a year in federal jail due to one of his customer selling their Bitcoin on online dark-web market place Silkroad. Shrem came back and invested whatever was left in Bitcoins making up to $45 million

Barry Silbert

Barry Silbert is the CEO of Digital Currency Group (DGC), a crypto service providing group. The DGC group is into various crypto investment businesses and owns around 25 companies related to crypto service offerings.

Barry saw the potential in the digital currencies early and reaping the riches even today. Most of the companies Barry is dealing with have invested big numbers in various cryptocurrencies.

Roger Ver

The Bitcoin Jesus as many call him, Roger Ver jumped onto the crypto game as early as 2011 and consumed as much information as he could. His company MemoryDealers.com became one of the earliest firms to accept Bitcoin payment.

Roger is known as an outspoken personality due to his position on various topics related to the crypto realm and he makes it evident through his continuous activeness on various social media platforms. Roger now is a reckoned force behind Bitcoin Cash and a controversial figure in the crypto ecosystem.

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Prashant Jha As a content writer Prashant believes in presenting complex topics in simple laymen terms. He is a tech enthusiast and an avid reader.



