Anthony Pompliano fondly called Pomp in crypto circles once stated that the crypto industry will make many more individuals rich in the future. In a newsletter authored by the crypto enthusiast, he stated that,
“The richest people in the world today built their fortunes on the back of the internet. It wouldn’t surprise me if the richest people of tomorrow build their fortunes on the back of crypto. The reward for creating value in a decentralized, global world is bigger, faster, and comes with more responsibility than ever before.”
In a way this is already manifesting, not surprisingly.
The rise of blockchain and the popularity of Bitcoin, especially towards the end of 2017 spawned a large pool of crypto rich individuals. This was made apparent by the fact that at a point hodlers made it a matter to gauge when they have enough cryptocurrencies to perchance a “Lambo”, the luxury car Lamborghini which costs at least $200,000.
That may just be on the light note. However the Hurun Research Institute recently released the list of China’s super rich. The 1,893 individuals named as the richest people in China had 14 entrepreneurs who made their wealth through cryptocurrencies.
An analysis of the list shows that the digital currency industry is the fastest growing industry if the primary indicator is the number of individuals being made rich.
Interestingly, Bitmain, the China-based mining giant was a dominant feature among the Crypto based rich named by the Hurun researchers.
This is hardly surprising. Bitmain, which was launched in 2013 has been the dominant mining equipment manufacturer. The company has since dominated Bitcoin mining through mining pools it owns.
That the company’s co-founder, Micree Zhuan Ketuan led the pack of Chinese crypto super rich is not surprising. The Bitmainco-founder is the only crypto super rich that made the top 100 wealthy Chinese. His wealth is valuated at 29.5 billion yuan ($4.3 billion)
Jihan Wu the Bitmain CEO is another entrepreneur from the crypto space that featured as the 204th wealthiest Chinese. His net worth was pegged at 16.5 billion yuan ($2.5 billion). Other Bitmain executives that were listed are cofounder Zhaofeng Zhao who is the third among the crypto rich Chinese, as well as Bitmain vice president Yuesheng Ge, and shareholder Yishuo Hu.
Bitmain has continued to receive criticism on its dominance of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash mining. Critics believe that the mining giant is a centralizing force in an industry that aims to decentralize everything from money to data storage.
Its ASIC miner is so specialized that GPUs stand no chance against it. This is why networks such as Monero are working hard at its exclusion in XMR mining.
Bitmain’s dominance seems to make it unstoppable. In Q1 of 2018, the company declared profits of $1 billion. It recently released statements on its proposed IPO that would potentially add $18 billion to its coffers.
In recent months, there are indications that other companies are serious to cut down Bitmain’s dominance. Ebang International Holdings and Canaan Creative are two Chinese companies that are Binance competitors. It is not surprising that their founders are among the Crypto super rich Chinese.
Ebang’s CEO who is also the chairman of the company, Hu Dong is worth $800 million, while Canaan’sZhang Nangeng has $520 million to his name.
Another company that had its executives featured prominently in the list was Binance. The exchange which is the global leader in terms of traded volume had its founder CEO Changpeng Zhao whose wealth is valued at 15 billion yuang ($2.1 billion) listed number 230.
CZ as he is commonly called is the third richest among the crypto rich Chinese. His company has been one of the stars of the cryptosphere, having just come on board in 2017 after an initial coin offering that raised $15 million.
It is a testament of the success some new crypto based companies have had in recent times.
The recent list of China’s super rich has an entry requirement of $290 million.
