It’s fair to say that back when it all began, many shied away from the world’s first cryptocurrency. This was mostly due to a lack of understanding and the belief that it was ‘yet another digital fad’ that would soon blow over. It tended to be ‘nerds’, entrepreneurs and computer programmers who took a punt on the new digital currency.

Few people realized that Bitcoin, which completed its first transaction back in 2009, would become what it is today. As the cryptocurrency’s market leader by a significant margin, Bitcoin has become hot property. Those who invested in the early days became billionaires overnight as the crypto at one stage passed through the $60,000 mark.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital currency, not beholden to any government or central bank but to a network of computers (blockchain) that regulate its production and value. Bitcoin kicked it all off back in 2009. There are now a staggering 10,000+ products on the cryptocurrency list, with Bitcoin positioned as the market leader. 

As measured by market capitalization, Bitcoin’s current price sits just above $24,000, with second-placed Ethereum sporting a price of just over $1,900. However, it must be remembered that the crypto market is extremely volatile and cryptocurrency prices can change in the blink of an eye.

Celebrity Investors

With the rise of Bitcoin’s notoriety and an increase in understanding of cryptocurrencies, people began to jump on board the cryptocurrency investment rollercoaster. These people include famous faces and public figures. It’s said that the number of cryptocurrency investors across the world is in the millions.

We’ve pulled together a list of the most visible celebrity cryptocurrency investors; however, it’s worth noting that some celebs prefer to publicly endorse crypto-related businesses rather than declaring how much they own.

Mariah Carey

At the back end of last year, the Grammy award-winning singer Mariah Carey collaborated with cryptocurrency platform Gemini on a new campaign aimed at encouraging women to educate themselves in the asset class. 

Mariah stars in a new video designed to take the intimidation factor out of investing in Bitcoin, while sharing her own experiences as a crypto investor and positively promoting the use of Gemini’s free online Cryptopedia resource. 

Elon Musk

Elon Musk is possibly the biggest Bitcoin (BTC) influencer known in the crypto space. Despite initial skepticism, Musk publicly announced his support for Bitcoin in 2019, calling its design ‘brilliant’. In January 2021, he added #Bitcoin to his Twitter bio, causing the BTC price to soar by more than 25%. 

February 2021 saw his company Tesla purchase Bitcoin to the value of $1.5bn. Musk also has a well-publicized fondness for the meme Dogecoin and often tweets about the coin, causing surges in its price. Due to his influence, Dogecoin managed to enter the top 10 on the cryptocurrency list. 

It is publicly known that Elon Musk was gifted 0.25 BTC by a friend several years ago.

Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block (formerly Square) and former CEO of Twitter, is reportedly a die-hard Bitcoin investor. He began to publicly support Bitcoin in 2017 and when the market crashed in 2018, he remained stoic, branding Bitcoin as the ‘future world currency’.

Block has purchased more than 8,000 Bitcoin and Dorsey has announced that he spends several thousand dollars per week buying Bitcoin. He also runs his own Bitcoin node, meaning he is able to mine and verify transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Madonna 

Queen of Pop Madonna is a Ripple enthusiast, alongside ex-president of the US, Bill Clinton. In 2018, she teamed up with Facebook and Ripple for an online fundraiser in aid of her Raising Malawi charity, and Ripple matched every dollar raised. 

Mike Tyson

Former boxer Mike Tyson began his crypto journey back in 2015, stating he was ‘grateful’ to be part of the revolution. He went on to collaborate with Bitcoin ATM makers by having his face tattooed onto the machines. ‘Iron Mike’ also teamed up with Bitcoin Direct to launch a mobile BTC wallet.

Gene Simmons

Bassist and frontman for the rock band Kiss, Gene Simmons is a strong advocate for Cardano (ADA) crypto. He repeatedly expresses support on his Twitter account and has bought $300,000 worth. With the fluctuation of cryptocurrency prices, Simmons has seen his investment more than double. 

However, Cardano isn’t the only crypto he has invested in; his portfolio includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and others. He stated that Bitcoin was bought when its price was around the $10,000 mark. He also claims to have sold his Dogecoin following Elon Musk’s tweets, when the price skyrocketed.