How do crypto world tycoons make their first bucket of gold?

Many people often lament during market fluctuations: "Why can others achieve financial freedom?" Today, let's take a look at how the 10 richest tycoons in the crypto world made their fortunes, where their first pot of gold came from, and what unique methods they used.

Overview of Notable Rich Individuals in the Crypto World

The following is an estimate of public wealth, and the actual assets may fluctuate with market conditions.

Let’s take a look at the wealth accumulation stories of these crypto world tycoons one by one, and how each of them made their first pot of gold.

1. Satoshi Nakamoto

As the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto is undoubtedly the richest person in the crypto world. He published the Bitcoin white paper in 2008 and officially launched the Bitcoin network in 2009, earning the title of "Father of Cryptocurrency." Although his true identity remains a mystery to this day, the approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins he mined in the early days constitute his first pot of gold. These Bitcoins have almost never moved or been sold, yet have rapidly appreciated in value as the price of Bitcoin has risen, now worth about $125 billion. Satoshi Nakamoto himself has been out of the public eye since 2010, and some speculate that he may have lost his private key or may no longer be alive. Regardless of the truth, the wealth myth created by Satoshi Nakamoto through his first-mover advantage is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the crypto world.

2. Zhao Changpeng

As the founder of Binance, Zhao Changpeng's experience is considered a textbook example of entrepreneurship in the crypto world. CZ was a programmer in his early years and participated in the creation of the OKCoin exchange but left shortly after. His first pot of gold can be traced back to 2014 when he sold his house in Shanghai for about 1500 bitcoins ( when the price of bitcoin was only around 600 dollars ). The explosive growth of bitcoin in the following years allowed CZ to achieve considerable asset appreciation, which also laid the capital foundation for his later entrepreneurship.

In 2017, CZ seized the opportunity of the bull market in the crypto world to establish Binance. Binance quickly became one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world by trading volume, thanks to its efficient matching engine, high-quality user experience, and the issuance of its platform coin BNB as the core of its ecosystem. Binance's profit model is simple and direct: trading fees + appreciation of the platform coin. The exchange is like collecting a "toll", and the hotter the market, the more transactions there are, the richer the earnings. Subsequently, relying on the soaring business of Binance, CZ's personal wealth grew exponentially, and he once topped the rich list of Chinese individuals. It can be said that creating the trading platform put CZ on the fast track to wealth, and his initial commitment to Bitcoin was a key step on his path to success.

3. Giancarlo Devasini

The USDT issued by Tether, founded by Giancarlo Devasini, is a stablecoin well-known in the crypto world. He was originally a plastic surgeon before transitioning into the electronics business. Devasini's first fortune in crypto came from investing in an exchange in 2012, and then in 2014 he co-founded the Tether stablecoin project. At that time, the stablecoin market was still a blank slate, and Devasini keenly seized this opportunity to position USDT as a dollar alternative in the crypto world. Today, USDT has become the main stablecoin used across major exchanges. The resulting surge in valuation has led to an explosive increase in his wealth in recent years. His path to success lies in identifying market gaps and then focusing on deepening his efforts.

4. Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong, the founder of the largest exchange in the U.S., Coinbase, has taken a completely different path. As a software engineer, he first encountered Bitcoin around 2010 while working at Airbnb and keenly observed that the process of purchasing Bitcoin at that time was too cumbersome. In 2012, he resolutely resigned to establish Coinbase, quickly obtaining seed investment from Y Combinator, and subsequently attracting venture capital including the New York Stock Exchange, which provided ample funding in the early stages of his startup. Coinbase has adhered to a compliant route from the very beginning; although progress has been slower, it is more stable. Coinbase not only obtained a legal license in the U.S. but also successfully listed on Nasdaq in 2021, with its market value once exceeding $100 billion.

It is worth mentioning that Coinbase later collaborated with established investment banks to connect the funding channels of traditional banks, allowing bank customers to directly purchase cryptocurrencies with credit cards. This series of compliance operations not only made Armstrong very wealthy but also made him a bridge between traditional finance and the crypto world.

5. Chris Larsen

Chris Larsen was an entrepreneur in the financial sector before entering the blockchain space, having founded the online lending company E-Loan as early as the 1990s. He also co-founded the P2P lending platform Prosper, making significant contributions to traditional finance. Because of this, he has an in-depth understanding of the pain points in the payment sector.

In 2012, Larsen and his team co-founded Ripple, launching the Ripple payment protocol and the XRP cryptocurrency, aiming to revolutionize cross-border payments with blockchain technology. His first pot of gold in the crypto industry can be said to have come from the Ripple startup and the early holdings of XRP tokens. Ripple raised multiple rounds of financing between 2014 and 2016, and as a co-founder, Larsen naturally held a large amount of XRP and company equity. In 2017, the price of XRP skyrocketed by hundreds of times, propelling Larsen's personal wealth to the top of the crypto rich list at one point. Although the price of XRP has since fallen back, Larsen still remains among the top wealthy individuals in the crypto world due to his large holdings.

6. Paolo Ardoino

Tether's current CEO Paolo Ardoino is a tech powerhouse. In 2014, he joined an exchange with his strong computer programming skills, and quickly solved a series of early system problems for the exchange, demonstrating exceptional architectural ability. This caught the attention of Tether founder Devasini, and soon after, Paolo was invited to also serve as Tether's Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Paolo's first pot of gold can be said to come from the equity incentives he received from Tether. At the time he joined, the issuance volume of USDT was only a few tens of millions of dollars, but he helped the stablecoin rapidly expand to over a dozen mainstream public chains such as Ethereum, Tron, and Solana, significantly increasing USDT's daily trading volume and application scenarios.

It can be said that he exchanged technical strength for tangible returns. When Tether made a huge profit through interest income, Paolo, as a shareholder, received dividends to the point of being overwhelmed. With technical investment, combined with the launch of the stablecoin ship, he created a wealth myth.

7. Sun Yuchen

The name Sun Yuchen should be familiar to everyone. At the age of 19, he became an early representative of Ripple in the Greater China region and later created the social app "Accompany Me," which also received investment. However, what truly made Sun Yuchen earn his first pot of gold was the TRON project he initiated in 2017. During the ICO boom, Sun Yuchen raised tens of millions of dollars by issuing TRX tokens, accumulating a huge amount of initial capital for himself. Subsequently, the crypto market surged, and the price of TRX skyrocketed hundreds of times, causing the value of the chips he held to increase dramatically. He also held a large amount of initial tokens due to his status as the founder of TRON, achieving a leap in wealth during that bull market.

After that, Sun Yuchen began various bold marketing and capital operations: he spent 4.56 million dollars to buy a lunch with a well-known investor, becoming famous overnight; he successively acquired the exchange Poloniex and invested in another exchange, creating his own crypto landscape. Sun Yuchen's style is simple and straightforward, grabbing technical chips with one hand and market attention with the other. Although external evaluations of him are mixed, he did seize the opportunity that the era offered to young people, placing himself on the crypto world rich list.

8. Michael Saylor

The story of Michael Saylor is somewhat different from others. This founder of a business intelligence software company was originally a traditional tech tycoon. However, in 2020, at over fifty years old, he suddenly threw himself into Bitcoin with fervor. Saylor noticed the potential of Bitcoin and the looming inflation risks of the dollar, making a stunning decision to convert most of the company's cash reserves into Bitcoin. This was akin to betting the "nest egg" of a company worth billions of dollars on Bitcoin, and many people thought he was crazy at the time, especially since this was a publicly traded company on NASDAQ!

But Saylor has proven his judgment with facts. His company has been continuously purchasing Bitcoin since August 2020, and by 2025, it has accumulated over 600,000 BTC, becoming one of the publicly traded companies with the most holdings in the world. This series of aggressive operations has earned him substantial returns in the crypto world. As the price of Bitcoin later broke $100,000, he saw paper profits exceeding $10 billion, and the company's stock price also multiplied several times. Now, the company simply lists Bitcoin as a major reserve asset, and Saylor has become the spiritual leader of the "aggressive bulls" in the crypto world.

9. Stuart Hoegner

Stuart Hoegner is a rather low-key figure in the crypto world, but when it comes to wealth, he can definitely be considered an invisible billionaire. As a lawyer, Hoegner became interested in the legal compliance of digital currencies early on. In 2014, when cryptocurrencies had not yet entered the public eye, he joined a certain exchange and the Tether team, at a time when industry regulation was a gray area, and survival was uncertain. Hoegner withstood immense pressure and gradually established a legal and compliance framework for Tether, such as promoting regular audits of Tether's reserves and transparency disclosure strategies, significantly enhancing market trust in USDT. His first pot of gold came from the Tether equity held as a founding team member. Unlike other high-profile moguls, Hoegner rarely accepts interviews and seldom makes public appearances; he is a typical talent in the crypto world who quietly accumulates wealth.

10. Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss

Cameron and Tyler, the twin brothers, back then fought a lawsuit with Zuckerberg over the founding rights of a certain social platform and settled for about $65 million in compensation, which became their starting point in the crypto world. The brothers' first pot of gold was using this lawsuit compensation to buy Bitcoin in large quantities at a low price in 2013, such foresight made them one of the earliest large holders of Bitcoin.

Although the two brothers later established a cryptocurrency exchange that developed in a conventional manner, this did not affect the substantial returns from their early investment in Bitcoin. As of now, it is said that the two still hold about 70,000 bitcoins. With the initial fortune from those early investments paving the way, coupled with their long-term belief in holding Bitcoin, the Winklevoss brothers have achieved sustained wealth appreciation.

11. Jeremy Allaire

Jeremy Allaire created the world's second-largest stablecoin, USDC. As early as the internet era, he founded companies such as the video platform Brightcove. In 2013, he keenly captured the opportunity of digital currency and established Circle, with the initial vision of making cryptocurrencies more accessible to the public. After several transformations, Circle partnered with an exchange in 2018 to launch the US dollar stablecoin USDC, quickly expanding USDC's market share by relying on the exchange's position and user network. Allaire's first bucket of digital wealth came from the entrepreneurial success of Circle and the rise of USDC.

As the issuance of USDC surpassed hundreds of billions of dollars, Allaire's personal wealth also surged significantly between 2021 and 2023. Although USDC's current market value is slightly inferior to USDT, Allaire successfully positioned himself among the crypto billionaires.