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Novogratz, Winklevoss Twins See Wealth Surge on Bitcoin Revival
(Bloomberg) -- Two years ago, the sudden collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX sent several of the world’s high-flying crypto billionaires scrambling to preserve their wealth from the regulatory backlash to come.
Bitcoin’s surge to a record on Tuesday shows how quickly their fortunes have changed. The richest digital-asset tycoons have gained about $70 billion in wealth since the end of 2022, propelled in recent days by Donald Trump’s US election win. Binance Holdings Ltd.’s Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, leads the recovery, with a surge of about $49 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
It’s a dramatic turnaround that few could have predicted when FTX was going bust, the culmination of a disastrous run for digital assets. CZ earlier this year spent four months in jail after cutting a deal with US authorities to end an investigation that had hung over him and the company he built. Last week he reflected on his time in a US prison in his first interview since his release.
Bitcoin has surged since the presidential election to an all-time high, topping $89,000 on Tuesday, as traders bet on a boom with a changing administration. Bullish sentiment also lifted smaller coins, crypto exchanges and miners.
Trump’s supportive stance on bitcoin contrasts with a crackdown on digital assets under President Joe Biden. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler repeatedly labeled the sector as rife with fraud and misconduct. In July, Trump pledged to fire Gensler and pick crypto-friendly regulators if he returned to the White House.
Here are the top crypto gainers on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Changpeng Zhao
The co-founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency-exchange has a fortune of $61.6 billion, as of Nov. 11, that’s up $49 billion since 2022. He’s the world’s 23rd richest person.
Binance’s former CEO went to prison in California after he pleaded guilty to failing to implement an adequate anti-money laundering program at the exchange.
“Crossing the chasm, finally,” Binance’s CZ posted on X this week, referring to bitcoin’s record high.
Michael Novogratz
The founder of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. a cryptocurrency-focused merchant bank, saw his net worth jump to $5.6 billion this week, up $3.8 billion from the end of 2022. His digital asset firm posted its largest trading day of the year on Wednesday Nov. 6.
“We own a lot of crypto, but our franchise was operating at full boar — trading with counterparties both in the US and abroad, lending, the derivative desk,” Novogratz, who was a supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris in the race, said last week. “It really felt like an affirmation of everything we’ve been working for.”
Brian Armstrong
The net worth of Coinbase Global Inc.’s co-founder grew near tenfold since the end of 2022 to $14 billion this week.
“Coinbase’s mission is broader than most people think: to increase economic freedom in the world,” Armstrong posted on X on Nov. 11. “Mostly this means using crypto to update the financial system. But sometimes, it also means pushing back on bad government.”
Winklevoss Twins
The Winklevoss twins poured money into the US presidential race. Cameron said in June he had donated $1 million in bitcoin to Trump and has posted on social media on Trump’s threat to fire Gensler.
The twins are now worth $5 billion each, with their fortune almost doubling since 2022.
“The shackles are off, 100k incoming,” Tyler Winklevoss said on X on Nov. 11, pointing to his view of where the price of Bitcoin may go next.
--With assistance from Pui Gwen Yeung and Pei Yi Mak.