Headline, July 28 2022/ ''' '' CRYPTO RICH CRAMPS '' '''

''' '' CRYPTO RICH

 CRAMPS '' '''

THE COMBINED FORTUNES OF THE 16 RICHEST CRYPTO billionaires exceeded $135 billion in March, Forbes estimated. As of last week, the total was about $76 billion.

But most of the loss had been suffered by a single billionaire, Changpeng Zhao, the chief executive of the crypto exchange Binance, whose $65 billion fortune shrank to $17.4 billion. 

Cryptocurrencies have long been held up as a vehicle for economic empowerment. Enthusiasts promote the digital coins - which are exchanged using networks of computers that verify transactions, rather than through a centralized entity like a bank - as a means for people of all backgrounds to achieve transformational wealth outside the traditional finance system.

In the latest crypto crash, the rich are doing fine. But startups' employees and amateur traders suffer less manageable losses.

NO CRYPTO INVESTOR HAS FULLY escaped the downturn. But a small group of industry titans accumulated immense wealth as prices spiked over the last two years, giving them enviable cushions.

Many of them bought Bitcoin, Ether and other virtual currencies years ago, when prices were a small faction of their current value. Some locked in their gains early, selling part of the crypto holdings. Others run publicly traded crypto companies and cashed out of their stock or invested in real estate.

By contrast, many amateur traders flooded into the crypto market during the pandemic, when prices had already started soaring. Some poured in their life savings, leaving them vulnerable to a crash. Thousands also flocked to work for crypto companies, thinking it was a ticket to new riches. Now many of them have seen their savings vanish or have lost their jobs.

The fallout from the crypto crash follows the pattern of other financial downturns, said Todd Philips, the director of financial regulation and corporate governance at the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy institute.

''No matter what, those with money will end up being fine,'' he said.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, whose wealth stood at $4 billion apiece before the crash, were each worth $3.2 billion as of last Wednesday, according to Forbes. They declined to comment.

For retail investors like Ben Thompson, 33, the reality is different. Mr. Thompson, who lives in Sydney, Australia, lost about $45,000 - half his savings - in the crash. He had dabbled in Crypto since 2018 and planned to use the money to build a brewery.

''A lot of people who seemed quite reputable had a lot of confidence,'' Mr. Thompson said. ''The smaller people get taken advantage of."

The uneven effects of the crash are evident even within crypto companies. Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, went public in April 2021 when interest in digital currencies was surging.

As part of the company's public listing, Brian Armstrong, the chief executive, sold nearly $300 million of stock. In December, he reportedly bought a $133 million estate in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air.

In total, six of Coinbase's top executives have sold shares worth more than $850 million since April 2021, according to Equilar, which tracks executives' compensation.

Emilie Choi, the chief operating officer has reaped about $235 million, while Surjot Chatterjee, the chief product officer, has sold $110 million in shares.Coinbase's stock, which peaked at about $357 in November, now trades at $51.

In June,as Coinbase grappled with falling prices and declining consumer interest in crypto, it laid off 18 percent of its staff, or about 1,100 workers. Mr. Armstrong said the company had ''over hired.''

Coinbase also rescinded hundreds of job offers. Some of these new hires had quit their previous jobs, or were relying on Coinbase to maintain their work visas.

Michael Doss, a product manager, accepted a job at Coinbase in May after months of interviews. He had canceled his lease and made arrangements to move to Britain and join the company's London operations when Coinbase took back the offer.

''I have to unwind all that,'' Mr. Doss, 33, said. ''That was what I viewed as a career-making move."

A Coinbase spokeswoman declined to comment on the layoffs and the rescinded offers, She said that many of the share sales part of the direct-listing process and that executives ''maintained large positions in the company reflecting their commitment.''

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Crypto, and State-of-the-World, continues. The World Students Society thanks author, David Yaffe-Bellany.

With respectful dedication to the Crypto Giants, and then the Markets, Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

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