Crypto Billionaires Climb on China’s Rich List

Hurun Research Institute’s annual China Rich List was just released yesterday, and it shows that crypto wealth has made an impact even at the very highest levels among China’s “new rich,” with several well-known personalities from the cryptoverse featured on the list for the first time.

As many had expected, the top spot on this year’s list was secured by Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, with a net worth of USD 39 billion. Although not a crypto entrepreneur, Ma has repeatedly stated that he is a keen observer of blockchain technology (while he call’s Bitcoin a bubble), and Alibaba has previously experimented with implementing blockchain in its food supply chain.

The 32-year-old co-founder of the bitcoin mining giant Bitmain Technologies, Jihan Wu, was officially named the richest person in China born after 1985, with an estimated net worth of around USD 2.3 billion. He was accompanied on the list by Bitmain co-founder Micree Zhan Ketuan, 39, with an estimated net worth of around USD 2.4 billion.

Bitmain is well-known for its ability to essentially print money, with Wu revealing in June that his company brought in roughly USD 2.5 billion in revenue last year alone. The hardware maker and bitcoin mining pool is now set for one of the largest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the history of the blockchain industry as it prepares to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

However, Bitmain’s main competitor, Canaan Creative, was not far behind either, with founder Zhang Nangeng also securing a spot on the list, although not in the top 100. Canaan Creative recently announced that they are challenging Bitmain with a new bitcoin mining machine that is set to ship out in the 4th quarter of this year.

Ultra-rich exchange tycoons were also featured on this year’s list, with Chinese-Canadian Zhao “CZ” Changpeng, 41, founder and CEO of the major crypto exchange Binance, ranked third among people from the crypto industry, with an estimated personal net worth of USD 2.2 billion, according to the report.

Famous bitcoin whale Li Xiaolai also appeared on the list, with an estimated net worth of around USD 1 billion. The controversial investor recently made headlines after he was secretly recorded during a private conversation, trash-talking other famous crypto investors and calling them “idiots.” However, in September Li Xiaolai announced that he personally will not invest in blockchain projects in the future as he plans to spend several years to contemplate on his career change.