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A single Bitcoin is worth more than Tk 700,000 lac or around US$ 9,000. It is an online currency that was created in 2009. The creator of this currency is anonymous and is only known by his alias Satoshi Nakamoto.
In bitcoin transactions, there are no middlemen, banks or transaction fees. It makes international payments more accessible and cheaper because there are no country or regulation involved. There is also no disclosure of identity. And every day, more and more people and organisations are starting to accept bitcoin in return for their products and services.
Since it came to be, the value of Bitcoin has been rising. It climbed from below $1,000 this year to a record above $7,000 and shows how quickly investor have become interested in the digital currency. But some people are saying that this rapid surge might reflect a bubble.
The blockchain accounts that hold bitcoin are anonymous making it impossible to identify most of the bitcoin millionaires around the world. The only way to identify them is through self-disclosure. But here are the top 5 bitcoin millionaires based on the value of their bitcoins.
5. Dave Carlson – $35 Million
He found a company called MegaBigPower and started to mine Bitcoin on an industrial scale. He made over 8 million per month in 2016 and is one of the first bitcoin millionaires to have mined his way to riches.
4. Charlie Shrem – $45 Million
He bought a large quantity of bitcoin when it was trading cheaply and at the age of only 22, found BitInstant. The company was hugely successful, but in 2014 he was found guilty of money laundering. He was released from prison in 2016 and launched Intellisys Capital which sells investment portfolios in blockchain companies.
3. Roger Ver – $52 Million
He is known as the Bitcoin Jesus for his outspoken advocacy about Bitcoin and his generosity. Roger Ver is known as the first Bitcoin startup investor by investing in his friend Charlie Shrem's company BitInstant. He was already a successful entrepreneur and investing in Bitcoin only multiplied his riches.
2. Ross Ulbricht / The FBI – $100 million
Because bitcoin transaction is anonymous, it is nearly impossible to track. Numerous black-market deals are done in bitcoin and the first of these markets, the notorious Silk Road was made by a man called Ross Ulbricht. Even before bitcoin was worth $1000, Ross was a Bitcoin millionaire. The FBI apprehended him and sentenced him to life in prison for money laundering, hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics and seized possession of his bitcoins.
1. The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler - $1 billion
The twins are infamous for their legal dispute with Mark Zuckerberg over the latter's alleged stealing of their original concept for the Facebook social network. They first learned about Bitcoin in 2012 and in 2013 they bought 1.0 per cent of all Bitcoin supply and as Bitcoin touches $100 billion in value, the twins are officially Bitcoin billionaires.
Special Mention: Satoshi Nakamoto – More than 1 billion
World knows very little about the creator of Bitcoin who goes by the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. He only has a few records apart from his email correspondence with Bitcoin developers. However, he currently holds bitcoins worth over 1.1 billion.