Binance CEO Tops Other ‘Bitcoin Billionaires’ With a Net Worth of $2.6B

When we think of the wealthiest individuals in the cryptocurrency industry, we often think of the Winklevoss Twins. Often dubbed the ‘Bitcoin Billionaires,’ the brothers were reported to have some $1.45B in crypto-assets as of June 2019. [Bloomberg] Another individual, however, is far wealthier and now tops the global rankings.

Binance CEO Tops Global Cryptocurrency Rich List

According to the Hurun global rich list for 2020, Changpeng Zhao is the wealthiest ‘Bitcoin Billionaire’ in the world, with an estimated $2.6B in net worth. The Binance founder has quickly risen to the top in the past year or so due to the success of Binance. The many financial products Binance has released in the past year—from margin trading to futures products—all have undoubtedly also enriched the exchange founder handsomely.

CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao tops 6 Bitcoin Billionaires in Hurun global rich list 2020https://t.co/IWbXHRdrRE pic.twitter.com/kaUb5kpB4I

— unfolded. (@cryptounfolded) February 26, 2020

What’s more shocking is that Zhao was able to double his net worth in just a year. According to the list, the Binance founder’s net worth was $1.3B just last year. The second-richest ‘Bitcoin Billionaire’ is Bitmain co-founder Zhan Ketuan who holds a net worth of some $1.6B as of late January 2020.

Exchange Sees Record Profits Despite Complaints

Binance and Zhao have been actively complaining about how ‘unfair’ the press has been in its treatment of the exchange. We still have no idea where Binance is even headquartered. It’s unfair for Zhao to criticize legitimate reporting during a time when the exchange has never done better. It’s also a lot harder to take Binance’s complaints about the media seriously when we now know that Zhao’s own net worth has doubled in just under a year. Altogether, it seems that the exchange is doing just fine—so maybe it should just let reporters do their jobs since, frankly, it is clearly not impacting Binance’s bottom line.