A global study has revealed that the digital asset economy has quietly built a new financial aristocracy.
According to research compiled by Henley & Partners with New World Wealth, cryptocurrencies have now created 36 billionaires and nearly a quarter-million millionaires, underscoring just how fast the industry has matured into a multi-trillion-dollar sector.
Bitcoin sits at the center of this explosion. More than half of crypto’s wealthy elite are tied directly to BTC, with 17 billionaires and the majority of millionaires drawing their fortune from the original cryptocurrency. In the past year alone, Bitcoin-linked wealth grew at a rate of 55%, outpacing almost every other asset class.
But while the numbers are eye-catching, the scale remains small compared to global wealth. Out of 60 million millionaires worldwide, only 0.4% owe their status to digital assets. Still, the report notes that crypto adoption continues to rise steadily, with nearly 600 million people — about one in every 13 adults on Earth — now owning some form of cryptocurrency. Roughly half of them are Bitcoin holders.
The findings highlight a profound challenge for governments and financial regulators. Dominic Volek of Henley & Partners argued that wealth is no longer anchored to geography in the way it has been for millennia. With nothing more than a seed phrase, he noted, fortunes worth billions can cross borders instantly — a direct clash with systems built on bank accounts, residency, and tax IDs.
The report also ranks the most crypto-friendly regions. Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States lead in adoption, innovation, and infrastructure, while Monaco and the UAE top the charts for tax advantages. Meanwhile, Samson Mow of JAN3 described the philosophical divide: fiat currencies are infinite, Bitcoin is capped at 21 million — a paradox he calls central to today’s economic battles.
Taken together, the study paints a picture of an emerging wealth class that governments can neither fully measure nor fully control, forcing traditional finance to confront a future where money no longer respects borders or old rules.
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Disclaimer: The story “Nearly 600 Million People Now Own Crypto – Here’s What That Means” first appeared on Coindoo and is syndicated via Digpu & NewsTex.