This Is How Many Crypto Millionaires (and Billionaires) There Are

Key Takeaways:

• Based on 24,233 BTC and 8,350 ETH wallets, and current prices, there are an estimated 32,583 cryptocurrency millionaires in the world.
• There are approximately 24,233 Bitcoin wallets that possess a current value of more than 1 million.
• For Tether (USDT), there are more than 100 wallets that contain more than 1 million tokens.

While it is very difficult to confirm accurately, we estimate there are at least 32,583 cryptocurrency millionaires at current prices. More than 24,233 wallet addresses hold a USD 1 million equivalent of Bitcoin, and approximately 8,350 wallet addresses hold more than 800 ETH, which is a million-dollar portfolio at current prices. There are also thousands of stablecoin and altcoin wallet addresses that are likely to hold more than 1 million in asset value. The total number of crypto millionaires stood at more than 150,000 during the previous 2021 bull run.

Number of Bitcoin millionaires

At the time of writing, one BTC is valued at approximately USD $16,000. A millionaire would have to hold at least 63 BTC to own a seven-figure portfolio. According to the “Bitcoin Rich List”, there are approximately 140,000 wallet addresses with between 10 and 100 BTC – although not all of these portfolios will be millionaires. Of those who are definitely Bitcoin millionaires, there are approximately 24,233 wallets richer than 1 million, as shown in the table below.

When we consider that BTC has fallen to less than a third of its peak value, we can assume there were likely 100,000+ Bitcoin millionaires during the 2021 bull run. In fact, a March 2020 article from Decrypt suggests there were nearly 95,000 Bitcoin millionaires at the time.

Number of Ethereum millionaires

Ethereum’s database is public, so we can peek into some of the top ETH wallet addresses. According to WhaleStats, the top 5,000 Ethereum wallets by value hold an average of $8,708,428 ETH. At Ethereum’s current price of approximately $1,250, investors would need to be holding at least 800 ETH to be considered millionaires.

By analyzing Etherscan, we can see that approximately 8,350 wallet addresses hold more than 800 ETH and are worth more than 1 million—less than Bitcoin, but still a substantial amount. The most valuable Ether wallet address currently holds approximately 16 million ETH, equivalent to about USD $20 billion.

Related: What is Ethereum and what does it do?

Number of Altcoin millionaires

During periods of intense market volatility, like 2022-2023, many crypto investors move their holdings into stablecoins. This helps them avoid day-to-day price fluctuations while keeping their assets on the blockchain. For example, there are well over 100 Tether (USDT) wallet addresses with more than 1 million tokens being held.

How To Calculate How Many Crypto Millionaires They Are

Cryptocurrencies, by and large, exist on a public blockchain ledger, which is essentially a database of all transactions and coin ownership that is accessible to anybody. By researching single blockchains using tools such as BitInfoCharts which sorts information from the Bitcoin blockchain, it is theoretically possible to calculate how many crypto millionaires currently exist.

How Do People Become Crypto Millionaires?

There are several ways that people have become crypto millionaires. For investors, the easiest would’ve been to invest in crypto, such as Bitcoin, before 2013, when the asset only just exceeded $1,000 in value. A ~$64,000 investment in BTC in December 2013 would have grown to around a million USD by 2023. If we go back even earlier, to December 2010, the price of BTC was just 30 cents. People that made a tiny $20 investment then, would have become Bitcoin millionaires today – assuming they held.

During frenzied bull runs like 2021, some of the top meme coins with little utility often see massive swings in price as novice investors try to strike gold before anyone else does. Because their values are often just a fraction of a cent, these currencies can rise 10,000%+ in a manner of hours. However, these projects don’t offer much real-world value and are susceptible to emotional, hype-based investing. When the hype dies down, the coins will often drop in value even faster than they went up, leaving the day-old “millionaires” penny-less.

Another common crypto millionaire story, which takes a lot more expertise and skill, is by trading crypto. The digital currency market's innate volatility can make it intimidating for longer-term, first-time investors. However, these same fluctuations provide experienced traders with significant trading opportunities. Whether it be through swing trading, scalping, shorting coins in bear runs, or trading derivatives with margin, crypto markets have turned many part/full-time traders into millionaires.

Want to start trading? Here is our list of the best crypto trading exchanges.

Finally, many crypto millionaires have already established fortunes that they’ve used to venture into the crypto industry. This includes celebrities and businesspeople like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban. Others have made their fortune from crypto-related projects, like launching a successful blockchain or centralized exchange.

Want To Become A Crypto Millionaire? Read This First

There is no guaranteed way to become a crypto millionaire. The digital currency market is notoriously rocky and may never hit the heights of the previous bull cycles again. However, there are some solid underlying investment principles that apply to all markets. They may not make people overnight millionaires, but they can help make an informed decision with as little risk as possible to build wealth over the long term.

Popular Cryptocurrency Millionaire Strategies

These three potential investment strategies should not be considered financial advice. Rather, they are an overview of commonly used tactics for capitalizing on the crypto market, which can lead to building a million-dollar crypto portfolio.

1. Cryptocurrency fundamental analysis

Fundamental analysis involves researching a cryptocurrency to determine whether it is over or undervalued. This might involve analyzing the coin’s associated blockchain, its underlying technology, its supply, token distribution and use-case, and more. Other elements to consider include hash rate (for Proof of Work coins), transactions per second (TPS), gas fees, and liquidity.

The goal of fundamental analysis is to find cryptocurrencies that are worth less than the intrinsic value they offer. For example, Bitcoin could be considered undervalued in the early 2010s as it provided a digital store of value without the need for an intermediary – something society was crying out for after the banking collapse of 2008.

Finding a crypto project with solid fundamentals should be the primary goal for most investments. Such ventures are more likely to weather harsh crypto winters thanks to their real-world utility and strong performance metrics. Being able to uncover a particularly sound crypto project while it’s still in its infancy could form the basis of a million-dollar investment portfolio.

2. Technical analysis and charting

Technical analysis (TA) is typically used by advanced traders, but there are principles even beginners can follow. TA is the use of cryptocurrency charting software (like TradingView) and indicators to try and uncover trends in the price of a cryptocurrency. Indicators are often used in conjunction with one another to identify possible price reversal or continuation based on price action.

When a trend has been confirmed, this can lead to all manner of trading strategies. Some may prefer swing trading and following the trend over a few days. Others might use a scalping strategy, where traders sell cryptocurrencies almost immediately after their trade becomes profitable. The initial returns may be low, but continued use of the strategy may accumulate solid gains.

Technical analysis requires a solid level of skill, understanding, and upfront capital to be profitable. Trading crypto, especially with margin and leverage platforms, is an easy way for the inexperienced to lose all of their money quickly.

3. Dollar-cost averaging

Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is a common crypto investment strategy employed by beginner and advanced investors. The goal of this strategy is to accumulate a portfolio over time – regardless of an asset’s price. For example, someone might set aside $100 to invest in BTC and ETH on the 2nd Monday of every month, no matter what the cryptocurrency market is doing.

Over time, this strategy exposes the investor to less of the crypto market’s innate volatility and helps them simply add to their holdings. The power of compound interest could theoretically lead a well-balanced portfolio into the millions after years of consistent growth.

These Are The Richest Crypto Millionaires

1. Satoshi Nakamoto – USD 18.5 billion

Satoshi Nakamoto is the crypto world’s longest-running mystery. The very person who invented the blockchain as we know it has never once revealed their identity, instead choosing to hide behind the veil of the Nakamoto pseudonym. In spite of their anonymity, one thing that’s public is the amount of BTC Nakamoto mined – an absurd 1.1 million (equivalent to $18.5 billion USD). Satoshi is the world's largest Bitcoin millionaire, although Satoshi's Bitcoin wallet has remained dormant for a long time.

2. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) – USD 15 billion

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is one of the richest crypto billionaires in the industry. The Chinese-Canadian businessman founded Binance in 2017, which rapidly blossomed into the world’s largest crypto exchange by essentially all metrics (volume, monthly visits, active users, etc.). He owns approximately 70% of Binance’s shares and was also integral to the creation of Binance Smart Chain, the exchange’s associated blockchain. CZ’s net worth is estimated at $15 billion at the time of writing – but has likely exceeded $100 billion during bull markets.

3. The Winklevoss Twins – USD 6 billion

Movie buffs who have seen The Social Network will likely know about the Winklevoss Twins. The brothers attended Harvard around the same time as Mark Zuckerberg and created a precursor to Facebook called “ConnectU.” The duo sued Facebook and ended up receiving ~$65 million from the out-of-court settlement.

The twins, after retiring from Olympic rowing, used much of this settlement to become early investors in BTC – massively inflating their already large net worth. They went on to create the now-defunct crypto lending exchange Gemini, which was bankrupted by the FTX collapse contagion. In spite of their business failing, the twins have a combined net worth of approximately $6 billion.

4. Vitalik Buterin – USD 527 million

Vitalik Buterin is one of the blockchain industry’s most respected figures and has been participating in the sector since co-founding Bitcoin Magazine in 2011. Buterin, although a believer in blockchain technology from the start, acknowledged that Bitcoin’s implementation of it had a few significant flaws.

He set out to create Ethereum and the project quickly rose to become the second-biggest crypto by market cap, and its blockchain is used by thousands of coins and decentralized applications. Buterin’s work ushered in a new era of decentralized finance, and he was rewarded handsomely for his efforts. As of writing this article, the 29-year-old is a crypto billionaire. Vitalik Buterin's net worth is estimated at $527 million at the time of writing.

Frequently Asked Questions