If you don’t understand anything about cryptocurrencies, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Not even those who created these currencies seem to know much about the market, as they have lost millions and even billions of dollars trying to predict market trends that weren’t there.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been around for more than a decade, meaning a lot of people have used them for all kinds of transactions. From buying pizza to acquiring companies. But not all transactions have happy endings for everyone. Some have been pretty catastrophic, to say the least.
So, here are the people who lost the most in cryptocurrency.
Sam Bankman-Fried
The founder of the failed exchange FTX lost his entire fortune (around $26 billion) overnight when his empire collapsed in 2022. Also, he is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, so he’s not doing great.
Rain Lohmus
The Estonian banker and early Ethereum investor lost the private keys to a wallet with 250,000 ETH (around $500 million today). He has publicly stated that he would share the fortune with anyone who can help him recover it.
James Howells
In 2013, Howells accidentally threw away a hard drive containing around 8,000 Bitcoin, which would be worth well over half a billion dollars. He spent years trying to convince his local government to let him excavate the landfill, but finally gave up in 2025.
James Fickel
He became a cautionary tale for leverage trading in recent years after he reportedly lost over $40 million betting on the price of Ethereum against Bitcoin during a period of extreme volatility. He’s fine, though.
Gerald Cotten
The founder of the Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX died suddenly in 2018, and he was the only person with the keys to the exchange’s cold wallets, leaving $190 million worth of customer funds and his own money inaccessible.
Gary Wang
The co-founder and former CTO of FTX saw his entire net worth, around $1.7 Billion, go to zero following the exchange’s bankruptcy.
Clifton Collins
The Irish drug dealer reportedly hid the private keys to 6,000 Bitcoin in a fishing rod case. However, following his arrest, the fishing rod was lost or discarded during a house clearance, and no one knows where to find it or how to even begin looking for it.
Changpeng Zhao
The biggest loser on the list. The former CEO of Binance lost an estimated $82 billion in 2022. And he’s still doing better than you, believe it or not.
Stefan Thomas
This German programmer has around 7,000 Bitcoin (approximately $468 million) stored on an IronKey hard drive. He lost the password and has already used 8 of the 10 attempts he has before the drive encrypts itself forever.
Brian Armstrong
During the 2022 “crypto winter,” his net worth reportedly plummeted by nearly $5 billion because his wealth is heavily tied to his company’s stock.
