A report released by London-based investment migration consultancy firm Henley & Partners suggests there were more than 40,000 crypto millionaires in the world holding Bitcoin (BTC).
According to the ‘Crypto Wealth Report’ published on Sept. 5, Henley & Partners said there were roughly 88,200 millionaires worldwide with crypto holdings, with 40,500 holding BTC. The report suggested that of 182 individuals who held more than $100 million worth of crypto, 78 were Bitcoiners. In addition, 6 out of 22 crypto traders who held more than $1 billion “amassed their fortunes from trading Bitcoin”.
Fortunly reported there were roughly 56.1 million millionaires on Earth as of July 2023, suggesting less than 0.2% had significant crypto holdings. The CEO of Henley & Partners, Dr. Juerg Steffen, said the firm had received a spike in the number of crypto-related enquiries by millionaires in the last 6 months as part of efforts “to protect themselves against any potential future bans on the trading or use of cryptocurrencies in their countries” as well as “allay the risks of aggressive fiscal policies that tax digital assets at source”.
“The leadership of an increasing number of jurisdictions understand the legitimate nature of [crypto-based] wealth and have produced mechanisms for it to be stored securely, with soft infrastructure that renders it treated in the same manner as almost any other tangible or intangible asset class,” said cybersecurity specialist Ali Khan. “But there are still a number of jurisdictions that are yet to bite.”
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The report did not explicitly mention the names of the crypto millionaires and billionaires. Among those well known in the space include Digital Currency Group founder and CEO Barry Silbert, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, and MicroStrategy executive chair Michael Saylor.
Amid the crypto market crash of 2022, the number of crypto wallet addresses holding the equivalent of more than $1 million dropped by roughly 80,000. Forbes reported in December 2022 that many major players in the industry lost more than $116 billion following bankruptcies of exchanges and the bear market.
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