7 Famous Bitcoin Investors and How They Got Started
7 famous Bitcoin investors and advocates include Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Jack Dorsey, Michael Novogratz, Elizabeth Stark, Matthew Roszak, and Changpeng Zhao.
Have you ever wondered how some of the most well-known names in Bitcoin got their start in cryptocurrency investing? We’ll name 7 of the most famous Bitcoin investors and explore how they began investing in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technology.
1 & 2: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss
Known popularly for their role in successfully suing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (also referred to as the Winklevoss twins) are also well-known venture capitalists and famous Bitcoin investors. They also launched the Gemini exchange in 2015, a buying, selling, and storing platform for digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
After earning $65 million in the payoff of their Facebook lawsuit, the brothers invested $11 million of those earnings in Bitcoin during 2013. As of June 2020, the twins’ Bitcoin holdings are worth over $1 billion, making them the first publicly-known Bitcoin billionaires. They are currently involved in the production of a film adaptation of the book Bitcoin Billionaires, which describes their famous rise in the Bitcoin scene following the Facebook lawsuit.
3: Jack Dorsey
Famous Bitcoin investor and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is one of the most vocal and influential proponents of Bitcoin today. In January of this year, Dorsey publicly acknowledged the role his own payments company, Square, was taking to prepare for a future where Bitcoin is commonly and widely used around the world. He plans to integrate Bitcoin functionality into both the Square and Twitter apps, leveraging his power as a social media mogul to expand Bitcoin’s functionality and reach.
Dorsey, a billionaire with a net worth of over $5 billion dollars, has publicly stated that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency he is invested in at all. However, despite being a public figure, Dorsey has been very private about the exact amount of his Bitcoin holdings and when first began investing. Publicly, he has backed Bitcoin-related projects since at least 2017 and has spent the last year promoting the expansion of Bitcoin across Ghana, South Africa, and Nigeria.
4: Michael Novogratz
Former hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs Michael Novogratz has been a strong voice in cryptocurrency for many years. He’s invested in a number of crypto-technology projects and companies, and is now the CEO of the crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital. Novogratz has expressed a strong interest in getting middle-aged and elderly Americans interested in cryptocurrency.
Before retiring from his role as a hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group, Novogratz decided it was time to get invested in the world of crypto. This famous Bitcoin investor told reporters back in 2017 that about 20% of his total net worth at that time was invested in cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin and Ethereum. He’s also stated publicly that he’s been able to earn about $250 million from these investments alone.
5: Elizabeth Stark
Entrepreneur, academic, and open internet advocate Elizabeth Stark is one of the most exciting forces in Bitcoin and blockchain technology today. Stark is the CEO of Lightning Labs, a blockchain technology start-up focused on developing faster blockchain transactions that will make Bitcoin more accessible for daily use. She is also a fellow at Coin Center, a non-profit organization advocating for informed cryptocurrency and blockchain policies.
This famous Bitcoin investor became interested in the cryptocurrency back in 2010 while she was a professor of human rights and computer science courses at Stanford University. While it’s unclear how much money Stark herself holds in Bitcoin assets, she has quickly become an influential figure in the Bitcoin and blockchain technology world. She has been able to gain the support of fellow Bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey, who has financially backed her company Lightning Labs since 2018.
6: Matthew Roszak
A famous Bitcoin investor known for his diverse range of investments, Matthew Roszak is a highly respected Bitcoin expert and entrepreneur. He is the cofounder of Bloq, a blockchain technology company focused on developing blockchain solutions for companies and projects around the world. Roszak is also a founder of the private digital asset investment firm Tally Capital that serves companies such as Binance, Blockstream, and Blockchain Capital.
Roszak got his start in the world of Bitcoin in 2011, before Bitcoin came into mainstream view. After Bitcoin was listed as a potential payment source by one of his companies based in Singapore, he got access to Satoshi’s white paper and quickly became interested in the concept of a decentralized currency. He’s participated in coin offerings since 2013 and has been a well-known social organizer for the Bitcoin social community ever since.
7: Changpeng Zhao
The famous Bitcoin investor Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is the founder and CEO of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the world, Binance. In just seven months, Zhao was able to grow Binance from a brand new company into a global cryptocurrency exchange platform serving over 6 million global users.
Since at least 2013, Zhao has been involved in the global Bitcoin and blockchain tech scene, where he learned about Bitcoin from a friend who he regularly played poker with. He soon began working for a variety of cryptocurrency trading and technology services, including Blockchain.info and OKCoin, where he was the CTO. With an estimated crypto net worth of at least $1 billion, Forbes listed Zhao third in their official list of the Richest People in Cryptocurrency in 2018.
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