These Ten Crypto Billionaires Have Lost $27 Billion Since Bitcoin’s Peak In November

The fortunes of the wealthiest Bitcoin, XRP and other crypto investors and entrepreneurs have imploded along with the value of digital assets. The worst may not be over. 

Ten of the wealthiest cryptocurrency moguls tracked by Forbes have lost a combined $26.9 billion since November 10, 2021, when Bitcoin and the overall crypto market peaked in value, according to Forbes’ calculations. Three of the ten are worth 50% less than in early November–a staggering loss even for the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency sector. 

Bitcoin, the largest digital asset by market value, has tumbled 50% since it reached an all-time high of $68,622 on November 10, according to data provider CoinMarketCap. The cryptocurrency was trading at $34,326 at midday Monday–the price Forbes used to calculate current holdings. (Six hours later, Bitcoin bounced up to $36,000.) 

Other cryptocurrencies have followed suit. Ether, the second largest digital asset, has also halved in value since November. Stocks correlated to cryptocurrencies have fallen, too. Since Bitcoin’s peak, shares of crypto exchange Coinbase Global have dropped 42%, falling from $328 per share to just $191 as of market close on January 24. As a result, Coinbase’s two billionaire cofounders–CEO Brian Armstrong and board member Fred Ehrsam–have lost over $7 billion in wealth between them.

MicroStrategy, a software firm that invested over $3 billion of its corporate treasury into bitcoin, is down 55% since November 10. (By comparison, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index has fallen about 15% over that same time period.) Michael Saylor, a Bitcoin investor and MicroStrategy’s CEO, has seen his fortune plunge 55%. 

Few digital assets have performed well. The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies was nearly $3 trillion on November 10. That number was $1.7 trillion as of noon eastern time on January 24, representing a 43% plunge in less than three months. 

Unfortunately for crypto investors, the market rout may not yet be finished. Many analysts believe the sector is entering a bear market as central bank tightening and rising bond yields dampen investor appetite for cryptocurrencies and other speculative investments. 

It’s not all bad news for crypto’s tycoons: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss’s crypto exchange Gemini upped its valuation to over $7 billion in late November, before Bitcoin really tumbled, which protected their net worths somewhat—at least for now. 

Others remain optimistic: Tim Draper, the billionaire investor who dropped $18.7 million on nearly 30,000 bitcoins in 2014, told Forbes last week that he believes Bitcoin will manage to surge over 600% this year to $250,000, despite the bearish conditions. “As the interest rate worries drive the markets down,” Draper added, “I suspect some of the marginal cryptocurrencies will disappear, and more effort and concentration will be applied to Bitcoin and the other important coins.” Of course, he has a reason to predict a rosy future for Bitcoin, since he owns so much of it.

Here is how the net worth of these ten crypto billionaires has changed, from November 10, 2021, to January 24, 2022. 

Valuations were calculated using close-of-market stock prices, and crypto asset prices as of noon eastern time on both days.