The 20th annual list of China’s wealthiest individuals has been released, showing the rising popularity of cryptocurrency, with 13 crypto entrepreneurs included in this year’s catalogue of riches.
The Hurun China Rich List catalogs anyone in the country with a net worth of more than CNY 2 billion (USD 209 million) and ranks the top 100 richest in China. This edition claims that Jack Ma of multinational conglomerate Alibaba to be China’s wealthiest man, with a net worth of USD 39 billion.
An encouraging statistic for the blockchain industry is the news that Blockchain is officially the fastest growing industry in China. The list cites 14 new players including Zhan Ketuan and Wu Jihan of crypto mining company Bitmain.
Zhan, co-founder of computer chip manufacturer of and software firm Bitmain Technologies was found to top the crypto list and sat in the top 100 with an estimated wealth of CNY 29.5 billion (USD 2.4 billion). Second in wealth to him was Wu with a personal worth of CNY 16.5 billion (USD 2.3 billion).
Other names from the world of cryptocurrency included Binance founder and CEO, ranking 230 on the list with an estimated wealth of CNY 15 billion (USD 2.1 billion), OKCoin exchange founder Star Xu and Zhang Nangeng, founder of hardware manufacturer Canaan Creative.
Hu Dong, founder of BTC mining machine Ebang International Holdings, and Li Xiaolai also made the list, the latter claiming recently he is moving on from blockchain investment.
One interesting development in the breakdown of wealth in the country is the report that women made up 28.7% of those appearing in it; a figure unsurpassed in over 20 years. Yang Huiyan, at the age of 37, became China’s wealthiest woman. Property developer Yang is also the wealthiest woman in Asia with a worth of an estimated USD 26 billion. She once added USD 6 billion to her portfolio in seven days of trading.
The rate at which some of these entrepreneurs are expanding their portfolios at such a rapid rate means that the status as the “country’s richest” is always being challenged.
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