Key Takeaways
- The richest people in crypto are a mix of visionaries and cautionary tales.
- Lost keys remain one of the industry’s greatest financial tragedies.
- Off-chain billionaires still loom large.
The crypto industry has created vast personal fortunes since Bitcoin’s emergence in 2009.
Billionaires have been made, and sometimes wiped out, in a day, while a new class of wealthy tycoons sees their net worth displayed openly on public blockchains.
While many early adopters rode Bitcoin and other assets to extraordinary riches, others watched their wealth slip permanently out of reach due to lost keys, forgotten passwords, or accidents.
Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham has released its ranking of the ten richest identifiable people in crypto.
Here are the nominees.
Top Ten Richest People In Crypto
1. Satoshi Nakamoto — $115 billion
The pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin remains the wealthiest figure in the industry by a wide margin.
Still unknown in origin, “Satoshi Nakamoto” has never been identified, leaving it unclear whether the holdings belong to a single person or a group of collaborators.
The estimate of Satoshi’s holdings comes from a landmark analysis of early Bitcoin mining conducted by cryptographer Sergio Lerner.
His method, known as the Patoshi Pattern, tracks a distinct mining fingerprint present in Bitcoin’s earliest blocks.
Lerner identified roughly 22,000 such blocks, each carrying a 50 BTC reward, pointing to an estimated 1.1 million BTC likely mined by Bitcoin’s creator.
Around 99.9% of the coins have never moved, even as most other early-era coins eventually did.
2. Justin Sun — $1.9 billion
TRON founder Justin Sun has accumulated one of the largest public crypto fortunes ever recorded.
Arkham’s analysis places his on-chain wealth near $2 billion, while noting that his broader net worth could be significantly higher.
His holdings span major tokens including stETH, TRX, and BTC.
Sun has faced recurring scrutiny throughout his career, most recently for his involvement in World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto project linked to Donald Trump.
3. Rain Lohmus — $886 million
Estonian banker Rain Lohmus represents one of crypto’s most cautionary stories.
An early Ethereum investor, Lohmus received roughly 250,000 ETH during the 2014 ICO — now worth nearly $900 million.
However, he lost the private keys, meaning the assets remain visible on-chain but are permanently inaccessible.
Research shows that more than 913,000 ETH, worth about $3.4 billion, has been lost forever due to mistakes.
4. Vitalik Buterin — $867 million
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin retains substantial wealth primarily in ETH allocated during the network’s early development.
His public wallets frequently receive unsolicited memecoin airdrops from projects seeking legitimacy.
Throughout his career in the public eye, Buterin also has a well-documented history of making significant donations using crypto.
5. James Howells — $838 million
Wales-based IT worker James Howells mined around 8,000 BTC in 2010.
Three years later, he accidentally discarded the hard drive containing the private keys.
Despite repeated attempts to secure permission to excavate the landfill where the drive is buried, including offers to share the recovered fortune, authorities have refused.
Speaking to YouTube channel Crypto Banter, Howells said:
“I’ve been denied access to even start the search. What else can I do? What else do you want me to try?
“I will try whatever you want to try, but at the end of the day, if the gatekeepers will not open the gate, there is nothing to try.”
His Bitcoin remains fully visible on Arkham’s dashboards, yet completely unreachable.
6. Stefan Thomas — $734 million
German-born programmer Stefan Thomas was paid 7,002 BTC in 2011 for producing a Bitcoin educational video.
He stored his private keys on an encrypted IronKey flash drive but eventually lost the password.
After eight failed attempts, he now has only two chances left before the device permanently wipes its data.
His trapped fortune exceeds $700 million and may never be recovered.
7. Clifton Collins — $629 million
Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins accumulated 6,000 BTC in the early 2010s.
He stored his private keys on a slip of paper hidden inside a fishing rod, which was lost following his arrest.
Authorities seized the associated wallets, but without the keys, the funds remain permanently inaccessible.
8. Owen Gunden — $561 million
Early Bitcoin trader and former LedgerX board member Owen Gunden built his wealth through arbitrage trading on now-defunct exchanges, such as Mt. Gox.
More recently, he received over 600 BTC as part of the Genesis bankruptcy proceedings.
9. Shixing Mao (DiscusFish) — $275 million
Cobo.com co-founder and F2Pool creator Shixing Mao is one of China’s most influential figures in the crypto mining industry.
His wealth stems from building critical crypto infrastructure and maintaining long-term holdings across several assets, primarily Bitcoin.
10. Patricio Worthalter — $226 million
Argentinian entrepreneur Patricio Worthalter founded POAP, a widely used Ethereum-based protocol for issuing digital attendance badges.
His rise to the top ten is a result of years of work in Web3 development and the growing adoption of POAP across mainstream and crypto-native events.
CCN’s Honorable Mentions
While Arkham’s ranking focuses strictly on verifiable on-chain holdings, some of the richest people in crypto fall outside of the top ten due to the complexity of their wealth.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ)
CZ, one of the most influential figures in crypto history, is widely believed to be among the industry’s richest individuals.
According to Forbes, CZ is the 24th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $78.8 billion.
His fortune fluctuates with the crypto market, as he retains a 90% stake in Binance.
CCN previously reported that CZ’s portfolio consists of:
- 98.48% BNB
- 1.32% Bitcoin (BTC)
- 0.17% Eurite (EURI)
- 0.03% Tether (USDT)
Michael Saylor
As of Nov. 20, 2025, Michael Saylor’s net worth is estimated at $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.
Saylor’s wealth primarily stems from his personal Bitcoin holdings and his stake in MicroStrategy.
He personally holds more than 17,000 BTC and owns over 19,900 shares of Strategy, representing approximately 9.9% of the company’s total outstanding shares.
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Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
