The market cap of the global cryptocurrency market has more than doubled in the past year, climbing from $1.05 trillion last August to $2.2 trillion today. And a staggering number of investors have ridden that market’s coattails past 2022’s crypto winter to become crypto millionaires.
The 2024 Crypto Wealth Report from wealth and investment migration specialists Henley & Partners says there are now 172,300 individuals across the world who hold $1 million or more in crypto assets. That’s a 95% increase from 2023. When it comes to Bitcoin-specific millionaires, the jump is even larger, with the number increasing 111% to 85,400.
The number of people who have earned $100 million or more from their crypto investments is also on the rise, climbing 79% in the past year to 325. The report states that there are now 28 crypto billionaires, a 27% jump from a year ago. Of the six new crypto billionaires, five earned their fortunes in Bitcoin.
“In the rapidly evolving world of finance, cryptocurrencies are challenging the dominance of traditional fiat currencies,” António Henriques, CEO of Bison Bank and chairman of Bison Digital Assets, said in the report. “As these two financial realms intersect, we are witnessing the dawn of a new era in global finance, where the innovative potential of digital assets meets the stability of traditional money.”
The rise in crypto’s market cap and, by extension, the number of millionaires, can be credited in large part to the rise of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
With the Security Exchange Commission’s blessing for finance firms to offer ETFs, which track Bitcoin’s price, investors have felt a greater sense of safety. The launch of those has also made it much easier to invest in Bitcoin and crypto, as people can use the advisers they’ve trusted for years, versus startups and crypto companies that are haunted by the shadow of FTX.
Today, according to Henley & Partners, there are 560 million crypto users, a 32% increase from July 2023 to June 2024. Some 275 million of those users are invested in Bitcoin.
With the surge in crypto millionaires, digital currency has emerged as a key factor in the U.S. presidential election. Donald Trump has positioned himself as the “crypto candidate,” and Vice President Kamala Harris has taken a friendlier stance toward crypto than President Joe Biden, backing measures to help grow digital assets.
Companies and individuals associated with the cryptocurrency industry have been responsible for nearly half of all corporate money contributed in the 2024 election, according to a report published by Public Citizen, spending more than $119 million to date to influence voters.
The largest of the crypto super PACs, Fairshake, has a donor list that is a who’s who of venture capitalists and crypto firms, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
Bitcoin hit a record high in mid-March but has struggled some since then. Year to date, Bitcoin prices are up 40%, though they have slumped somewhat in the past month, falling 9%.
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