![\"Barry](\"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Barry-Silbert.png\")
<\/p>\nBarry Silbert is the founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG). The self-made billionaire and crypto investor is famous in the cryptocurrency space as the CEO of DCG, Grayscale, and his Bitcoin holdings. More so, Barry Silbert is regarded as a crypto whale. The involvement of Barry Silbert in the crypto sphere can be traced to 2012, making him one of the earliest actors in the industry contributing to his net worth over time.<\/p>\n
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Through DCG, Barry Silbert has invested in more than 200 crypto startups. Prominent virtual asset manager Grayscale as a subsidiary of DCG has more than $28 billion worth of BTC, ETH, and other digital assets in its care. The asset manager is the only asset of DCG that generates the most revenue. The position of Grayscale in the crypto market contributed heavily to the net worth of Barry Silbert.<\/p>\n
Additionally, prominent crypto organizations like Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, Genesis Trading, Luno, and Coindesk are enjoying the backing of DCG. The organization has contributed to various crypto markets across 30 countries worldwide. Therefore, making the firm one of the biggest and most influential in the industry.<\/p>\n
According to Forbes, Barry Silbert is ranked 957 on the list of the richest people on earth in 2022. With his $3.5 billion net worth, Barry Silbert is ranked the 8th richest person in the crypto industry. Barry Silbert lost a significant portion of his net worth due to the bear market that affected the crypto space, a period where various businesses struggled in the industry for stability.<\/p>\n
| Year<\/th>\n | Net Worth<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|
| 2020<\/td>\n | $2,200,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2021<\/td>\n | $2,900,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2022<\/td>\n | $3,200,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 2023<\/td>\n | $4,000,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nEarly Life<\/h2>\nBarry Silbert was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1976. The billionaire has always shown flashes of brilliance at a very tender age. While he was still in High School, he passed the General Securities Representative Exam, earning the qualification of becoming a stockbroker. At age 17, Barry Silbert passed the Series 7 stockbroker exam. One of the youngest to ever achieve such feet.<\/p>\n Thereafter, he bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University. His Journey to the top as a billionaire started at a young age when he sold baseball cards to a stint as an investment banker in New York. He worked there for five (5) years and a half before proceeding to establish SecondMarket.<\/p>\n SecondMarket<\/h2>\nAfter conceiving the idea of providing liquidity for restricted securities in public companies, Barry Silbert established SecondMarket in 2004. Gaining more ground, in 2007, the firm received an undisclosed amount from Pequot Ventures in a Series A funding round. Consequently, the funds provided SecondMarket the financial backing to expand into other asset classes.<\/p>\n The firm gained more financial backing to venture into the Asian Market in 2010 after acquiring $15 million via Series B funding. Thereafter, the firm gained up to $215 million in subsequent funding rounds. During this period, the company has facilitated private-company transactions worth more than $500 million, thereby emerging as a strong competitor to NASDAQ’s Private Market initiative. In 2015, NASDAQ acquired SecondMarket Solutions and renamed it NASDAQ Private Market.<\/p>\n However, before the takeover in 2015, Barry Silbert already stepped down as the CEO of SecondMarket in 2011. According to findings, he left the role with the intention of exploring other aspects of finance and most especially blockchain and cryptocurrency. This focus aided Barry Silbert to acquire his first BTC in 2012. His investment in BTC quickly paid off due to the good condition of the crypto industry as at then. It is worth mentioning that the move contributed to the increase in the net worth of Barry Silbert.<\/p>\n Digital Currency Group (DCG)<\/h2>\nBarry Silbert founded the Digital Currency Group in 2015 with the proceeds from the sale of SecondMarket. Before then, the billionaire ventured into the crypto market to invest in projects with high growth potential. DCG intensified its effort toward becoming a force to reckon with in the crypto space.<\/p>\n With an eye for investing in crypto startups, the firm established Genesis Global and Grayscale as its first subsidiaries. Ever since, it has grown from strength to strength, investing in scores of crypto startups. As of September 2021, Digital Currency Group has invested in more than 200 cryptocurrency organizations.<\/p>\n It is worth mentioning that the firm moved its headquarters from Manhattan to Stamford, Connecticut. The then-governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont played a prominent role in the relocation. Ned Lamont designed numerous financial incentives to convince DCG to move to the state. Among these incentives is a $5 million grant pledge if Digital Currency Group creates more than 300 full-time jobs in the state.<\/p>\n Genesis Global Capital<\/h2>\nBarry Silbert founded Genesis Global Trading in 2013 as a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. The business operations of the firm were aimed at providing trading, lending, and custody of virtual assets for institutional investors and wealthy investors. At the inception of the crypto winter in 2022, DCG took some of Genesis’s loans to help the firm remain in operation. The move was necessitated after the collapse of Babel Finance and Three Arrows Capital which couldn’t service their loans with Genesis.<\/p>\n The struggles of Genesis compelled some changes to take place in its organizational structure. On August 17, 2022, Michael Moro stepped down as its CEO, leaving Derar Islim to assume an interim role. Thereafter, the firm revealed that it has up to $2.8 billion in outstanding loans, forcing it to hire investment bank Moelis & Company to help in restructuring.<\/p>\n The collapse of FTX affected Genesis heavily. According to a court filing, the firm lost up to $226.3 million to the collapse of the exchange, making it the largest unsecured creditor of FTX. While battling with its insolvency issues, the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 12, 2023, indicted Genesis Global Capital, LLC for offering unregistered securities to retail investors. A week later, the firm and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This crisis inflicted a huge downturn in the net worth of Barry Silbert.<\/p>\n Grayscale<\/h2>\nThe commitment of Barry Silbert to Grayscale investments contributed massively to his net worth. Serving as the bedrock for his financial prosperity. Barry Silbert through DCG established Grayscale investment in 2013. The firm is a virtual currency asset manager that provides funds privately for institutional and accredited investors and publicly-traded products.<\/p>\n As of December 2021, Grayscale was regarded as the largest virtual assets manager in the world. The firm has more than $50 billion in assets under its management. Achieving this remarkable height, In 2018, Grayscale launched the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund which allows customers to invest in a group of prominent digital currencies.<\/p>\n The investment firm made history through its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust which began trading over-the-counter on the OTCQX market in 2015. With that, the initiative became the first publicly traded Bitcoin fund in the United States. As of April 2021, six of Grayscale’s funds were traded publicly on the OTCQX market. These funds are Bitcoin Cash, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Ethereum Trust, Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust, Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund, and the Grayscale Litecoin Trust.<\/p>\n On its record-setting streak, Grayscale with 643,572 BTC which is worth about $17 billion has in its possession about 3% of all the available BTC. With that, the firm holds one of the largest shares of BTC. The collapse of FTX also had a significant impact on the firm. In the wake of FTX’s collapse, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust declined by 20% within two weeks.<\/p>\n In 2022, the firm sued the Securities and Exchange Commission for rejecting its proposal to convert its GBTC into an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). In its defense, the regulator cited the lack of proper regulation in the crypto market and the risk of price fixing.<\/p>\n However, the tussle was brought to an end on August 29, 2023. The U.S. Court of Appeal issued a ruling in favor of Grayscale, ordering the SEC to review its decision. According to Judge Neomi Rao, the regulator failed to prove that Grayscale was in the wrong with its filing. With this development, the SEC is expected to review Grayscale’s application again.<\/p>\n Luno<\/h2>\nThe relationship between the DCG and Luno first surfaced in 2014. Then, DCG invested in the crypto exchange shortly after it was established in 2013. Luno was one of the earliest crypto exchanges with expansion into various cities like London, Singapore, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Lagos, and Sydney.<\/p>\n In September 2020, DCG acquired Luno. Then, Luno had more than 5 million customers. The takeover ushered DCG into the crypto retail sphere. As revealed, Luno maintained its status as an independent organization, functioning as a subsidiary of DCG.<\/p>\n |