A sharp collapse in the cryptocurrency market last October inflicted heavy losses on major industry figures, while some individuals grew their wealth, sharply splitting fortunes.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Dec. 31 that Strategy's Michael Saylor, known as a bitcoin bull, lost about $2.6 billion in 2025, sharply reducing his net worth. As volatility in the crypto market widened, the wealth of key industry figures has also swung sharply.

On the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Saylor recorded losses of $2.6 billion over the past 12 months, cutting his net worth to about $3.8 billion. That is down by nearly $6 billion from last year's peak.

Saylor has led Strategy's bitcoin reserve strategy, under which the company holds bitcoin on a large scale. In early October, when bitcoin hit an all-time high of $126,000, both the company's value and his personal wealth rose sharply. Later, as bitcoin prices corrected and Strategy shares plunged more than 50 percent, his wealth also fell sharply. Bitcoin has fallen about 7 percent since Jan. 1, 2025, and after hitting a record high of $126,000 in October last year, it slid to about $80,000 by late November.

Other cryptocurrency company executives also could not avoid losses. Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, and former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, also posted substantial declines in wealth after the market plunge since October. On the Bloomberg index, CZ has lost about 5 percent of his $50.9 billion net worth since Jan. 1, while the Winklevoss twins have lost about 59 percent of their wealth over the same period.

Over the same period, total net worth across all billionaires rose by about $2.2 trillion, with $540 billion, about 25 percent of the total, concentrated among just 8 people. The wealth trajectory of cryptocurrency industry figures moved in a different direction.

By contrast, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, whose company issues the USDC stablecoin, is cited as a case of sharply rising wealth. Allaire's net worth has risen about 149 percent since June 4 last year, increasing from $3.8 billion to $5.9 billion. This is analysed as stemming from higher market expectations for stablecoin-related companies after the U.S. government passed the GENIUS Act, a currency-pegged stablecoin bill.

In addition, the number of listed companies holding bitcoin in 2025 was tallied at 192. Bitcoin is down about 7 percent since the start of the year, but participation by companies and investors appears to be expanding. The market interprets this trend as a signal that the broader crypto industry is maturing while volatility is also increasing.