Whenever the market fluctuates, some people can't help but exclaim: "Why are others achieving financial freedom?"
Today, let me help you understand how the top 10 wealthiest people in the crypto world made their fortunes. Where did their first pot of gold come from? What are their unique strategies? After reading, remember to take notes, as these are paths and pitfalls walked by the masters!
01 Overview of Famous Crypto Billionaires
Note: The above is an estimate of public wealth, and actual market fluctuations may affect asset value.
Next, let's look at the get-rich stories of these crypto billionaires and how they earned their first pot of gold.
1. Satoshi Nakamoto
When talking about the crypto billionaire, one cannot bypass the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. He published the Bitcoin white paper in 2008 and officially launched the Bitcoin network in 2009, known as the "Father of Cryptocurrency". His real identity remains unknown, and he has never appeared publicly, making him one of the biggest mysteries in the crypto world.
Although no one knows who he is, the approximately 1.1 million bitcoins he mined early on were his first pot of gold. These bitcoins have rarely been moved or sold, yet have rapidly appreciated with Bitcoin's price surge, now worth about $125 billion! One could say the more successful Bitcoin becomes, the more valuable his holdings. However, Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared after 2010, with some speculating he might have lost his private key or is no longer alive. Regardless of the truth, the wealth myth he created through first-mover advantage is undoubtedly the ceiling of the crypto world.
2. CZ
As the founder of Binance, CZ's experience is almost a textbook case of crypto entrepreneurship. CZ was originally a technical programmer who had participated in establishing OKCoin exchange but soon left. His first pot of gold can be traced back to 2014 when he sold his Shanghai house for about 1,500 bitcoins (when bitcoin was around $600 each). Bitcoin's subsequent surge allowed CZ to achieve significant asset appreciation, laying the capital foundation for his later entrepreneurship.
In 2017, he keenly seized the crypto bull market to establish Binance. With an efficient matching engine, user-friendly experience, and BNB platform token as the ecological core, Binance rose to become one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges within months. Binance's initial profit model was simple and brutal: transaction fees + platform token appreciation. Think about it, exchanges are like collecting "toll fees" - the more active the market and transactions, the more they earn. Afterward, CZ's personal wealth grew exponentially with Binance's success, once topping the list of Chinese billionaires. It can be said that creating an exchange put CZ on the fast track to wealth, and his initial all-in commitment to Bitcoin was a crucial step in his wealth journey.
[Translation continues in the same manner for the remaining sections]Justin Sun's name should be familiar to everyone. At 19, he became an early representative of Ripple in the Greater China region, and later created a social app "PeiWo" that also received investment. However, what truly helped Justin Sun earn his first pot of gold was the TRON project he initiated in 2017. During the ICO boom, Justin Sun raised tens of millions of dollars by issuing TRX tokens, accumulating massive initial capital. Subsequently, with the crypto market's surge, TRX's price skyrocketed hundredfold, instantly multiplying the value of his holdings. As TRON's founder, he also held a large number of initial tokens, achieving a wealth leap during that bull market.
Afterward, Justin Sun began bold marketing and capital operations: spending $4.56 million to win a lunch with Buffett, becoming famous overnight; successively acquiring Poloniex exchange, taking a stake in Huobi (now renamed HTX), and building his crypto empire. Justin Sun's style is simple and crude, with one hand on technical tokens and the other on market attention. Although public opinions about him are mixed, he indeed seized the opportunity given to young people by the times and entered the crypto billionaire list.
8. Michael Saylor
Michael Saylor's story is somewhat different from others. The founder of MicroStrategy business intelligence software company, originally a traditional tech tycoon, suddenly went all-in on Bitcoin at over fifty years old in 2020. Saylor noticed Bitcoin's potential and the potential inflation risk of the US dollar, making a shocking decision to convert most of MicroStrategy's cash reserves into Bitcoin. This was equivalent to betting a company's billions of dollars on Bitcoin, and many thought he was crazy, given it was a NASDAQ-listed company!
However, Saylor proved his judgment with facts. MicroStrategy has been continuously purchasing Bitcoin since August 2020 and has accumulated over 600,000 BTC by 2025, becoming one of the global companies with the most Bitcoin holdings. These aggressive operations earned him substantial returns in the crypto field. As Bitcoin's price later broke through $100,000, his book profit exceeded $10 billion, and the company's stock price multiplied several times. Now, MicroStrategy has directly listed Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset, and Saylor has become the spiritual leader of "aggressive bulls" in the crypto world.
[The translation continues in the same manner for the rest of the text, following the specified name and term translations.]The first category is "becoming the boss of an exchange", with CZ and Star Xu being outstanding representatives. The core of an exchange's profitability lies in "collecting transaction fees + building ecosystem". As long as users trade on your platform, you'll continuously earn commissions. Another exchange leader, Coinbase's Armstrong, chose the compliant listing route, steadily obtaining licenses and listing on NASDAQ. Now, the exchange industry shows a clear head effect, earning transaction fees while further amplifying revenue through platform token ecosystems. The charm of this path is that as long as you stand at the entry point of industry capital flow, wealth will continuously flow towards you.
2. Long-term Bitcoin holding
For most people, achieving the first model is now quite difficult. The second model is long-term Bitcoin holding, in other words, making a big bet and holding potential crypto assets long-term, using time to multiply value. Michael Saylor is one of the extreme Bitcoin betting representatives. Even starting to reserve large amounts of Bitcoin from 2020, he has become one of the top three global Bitcoin holders. If you believe in Bitcoin's potential for hundredfold growth, early accumulation will undoubtedly bring amazing compound interest effects. Of course, the premise of this route is having extraordinary vision and strong belief in holding, otherwise, you'll easily be washed out in extreme market fluctuations.
3. Ecosystem Builders
The third category are ecosystem builders who often possess both technical talent and capital insight, acquiring massive wealth by building entirely new ecosystem systems. Vitalik, who led Ethereum's development, started writing the whitepaper at 19 and still leads technical iterations today. From 2014 to now, Devasini and Paolo made USDT the core liquidity of the entire market, with ecosystem feeding back token value. Jeremy Allaire launched USDC, spending over 10 years to establish the "on-chain dollar" position. Justin Sun built a comprehensive layout from blockchain, stablecoins to exchanges, continuously refining his approach. These people didn't just "catch the wind", but built moats with time, long-term BUIDL, which earned them their current status.
03 What can ordinary people learn from crypto big shots?
The author summarized some key insights, hoping to help everyone avoid pitfalls and turn around in crypto's turbulent waves:
1. Sharp vision, quick action
Satoshi Nakamoto created BTC, CZ founded Binance - these wealth legends all started from a bold and daring idea. When an opportunity comes, decisively jump in, don't wait until most people understand before acting, by then the soup will be cold. Opportunities always belong to the first crab-eaters.
2. Hold onto your chips
The common wealth secret of crypto big shots isn't frequent operations, but holding good projects long-term. The most common mistake for ordinary people is chasing rises and killing dips, unable to hold coins, resulting in small gains but big losses. Either don't enter the market, or if you do, have faith - hold good things steady without messing around, and time will reward you generously.
3. Find your advantage
Everyone has their professional advantage. Combining this advantage with crypto opportunities significantly increases success rate. Ripple's founder Larsen understands finance and cross-border payments, CZ knows technology and matching engines - they all grafted their original expertise onto new tracks, achieving twice the result with half the effort. Think about what you're good at, then see if there are related directions to deeply cultivate in the crypto field.
4. Learn throughout life
The crypto industry changes rapidly. These big shots almost share a common trait: maintaining a keen sense for new knowledge and continuous learning passion. Blockchain's new concepts emerge endlessly. Without constant learning, it's easy to miss the next wave of opportunities or even step into traps. Remember, surviving in crypto, learning and self-upgrading is always the highest ROI investment.
Finally, a friendly reminder: While crypto's wealth legends are tempting, always remember that high returns always accompany high risks! Though big shots' successful experiences can be referenced, no one can completely replicate another's life. After all, the truly important path is the one you walk yourself, finding a money-making method suitable for you is more important than blindly following others.
