The surge in the value of cryptocurrency Ripple last week catapulted the digital currency's co-founder and chairman into fifth place on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people, ahead of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

When Ripple's coin (XRP) hit an all-time high of $3.84 (£2.80), the net worth of Chris Larsen – who reportedly has 5.19 billion XRP and a 17pc stake in the company – jumped to $59.9bn on paper. By comparison, Mr Zuckerberg was at the time worth around $55bn.

Unfortunately for Mr Larsen, however, Ripple's value has since tumbled to $2.41 and his Forbes ranking has slipped, far behind the three wealthiest men in the world: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffet and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

Current Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who according to Forbes owns a 6.3pc stake in Ripple and additional XRP tokens, has also seen his wealth see-saw over the past week, thanks to Ripple's soaring value.

Over the past year the cryptocurrency has risen more than 35,000pc, making it the second largest virtual currency, just behind the original behemoth Bitcoin. While most cryptocurrencies were worth almost nothing 12 months ago, many are now responsible for creating billionaires.