Many believe the highest crypto returns are exclusive to the top Bitcoin holders. The people who invested in Bitcoin way back in 2009 seem to be reaping its benefits today and becoming crypto millionaires.
The Winklevoss brothers, for example, invested a large amount of their money from the Facebook lawsuit into cryptocurrencies and are now reportedly worth upwards of $5 billion thanks to Bitcoin. Michael Saylor, CEO of software firm MicroStrategy Inc. is also on this list, given his persistent interest and faith in the rise of digital currencies in the modern world. He purchased Bitcoin worth $250 million in 2020 and, as if that was not enough, now reportedly owns around $3.5 billion in Bitcoin holdings.
While only about a dozen people hold the enviable status of a billionaire from cryptocurrency investments and are established as the top Bitcoin holders, many more have made it to the significantly smaller but still impressive million.
According to information from BitInfoCharts, there are 81,408 people in the world holding at least $1 million in Bitcoin. It is important to note that this estimated number is pretty difficult to correctly determine due to the anonymous nature of Bitcoin trading.
Considering that this market was essentially non-existent before the birth of Bitcoin in 2009, this is an incredible feat. With the increasing interest among millennials and Gen-Z, this is going to be on an upward trajectory as more players look to get involved in this game, with crypto adoption on the rise across the globe.
According to a survey, around 83% of millennial millionaires have invested in cryptocurrencies, which is only going to add to their growing net worth. It seems that younger generations have the ball in their court since they are relatively quicker in grasping the understanding of the world of crypto, while the older generation seems to be a little less forward to investing their money due to skepticism or lack of understanding.
One of the more inspiring stories is that of Erik Finman, who currently holds the title of the youngest Bitcoin millionaire. His investment journey started with a gift from his grandmother in the form of 700 euros which he invested in Bitcoin when he was 12 years old. He now reportedly holds 431 Bitcoins that are worth upwards of $4.8 million. A high school dropout turned one of the youngest crypto millionaires is one story that encourages newcomers to explore investment opportunities in cryptocurrencies.
Holding Bitcoin is a clear point of commonality in many crypto millionaires, which is why it is important to revisit 2009 and talk about the one who started it all and is currently the indisputable top Bitcoin holder: Satoshi Nakamoto. While this is the anonymous name used by the creator (or creators) of Bitcoin to stay under the radar, their accomplishments within this space speak for themselves. It is unclear exactly how much Bitcoin they hold, but the estimated figure is around 1 million, 5% of all the coins ever mined, which cements their status as a crypto multi-billionaire in 2022. While the founder of Bitcoin chooses to stay anonymous, many famous people who are always in the spotlight have also taken up investing their monetary assets into cryptocurrencies, of which Bitcoin is always the prime choice. Everyone from rapper and musician Snoop Dogg to reality star Kim Kardashian is investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The success stories from crypto are countless and spread all over the world. Heather Delaney, a business professional, started her investing journey with $5 and then slowly built an empire around her crypto investments. Being one of the crypto millionaires, his millionaire status is allegedly a “part of her pension plan.” Australian investor Kane Ellis also had a very interesting start with crypto. Having always been a technology enthusiast, he started a tech consulting company and launched an app, but his best decision was mining Bitcoin in 2010, when a single coin cost a mere $1.60. Those mined bitcoins contribute a large amount of his wealth today. He did, however, sell 2-4 Bitcoin for a McDonald’s meal in his early teen years, something that would have been worth around 6 figures today. The $2,00,000 Maserati in his garage probably makes that mistake easier to swallow – a purchase from his Bitcoin earnings.
Crypto has taken the world by storm. You can’t walk into an establishment without at least one person talking about their crypto investments or the state of the overall crypto market. Bitcoin has facilitated countless rags-to-riches stories for people worldwide, and the top Bitcoin holders are basking in their monetary success despite a recent downturn in the market. It is safe to say that crypto has already helped many people achieve that sought-after millionaire status and attain financial freedom.
Bitcoin can be assigned the tag of a status symbol in the cryptocurrency domain, especially because it is the most expensive, the most expansive, and the first-ever cryptocurrency birthed. Thousands of e-commerce merchants, payment processors, and corporations accept bitcoins as payment. There are financial institutions and banks like Barclays, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sach, Blackrock, Circle, and Tesla who have their treasuries filled with bitcoins, and how can one forget mentioning El Salvador and the Central African Republic accepting the legal tender status of Bitcoin in their respective countries. The shift towards these digital assets, especially Bitcoin, will be more pronounced as the world goes digital.
We wonder what the person who exchanged his 10,000 BTC for two pizzas in 2010 thinks of Bitcoin today.