As the CEO of Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert is one of the most influential people in the crypto space. Given how crowded the industry is, that’s a massive achievement. DCG owns five cryptocurrency-focused subsidiaries such as CoinDesk and Grayscale Investments.
Silbert made his fortune investing early in Bitcoin and starting various crypto-related businesses. As of 2023, Barry Silbert has a net worth of $2 billion. Over the last year, his net worth has fallen by a billion dollars due to the markets selling off. It has been a challenging time for DCG, exacerbated by the collapse of FTX.
Early Life
Born in Gaithersburg, Maryland in 1976, Barry’s first business venture as a kid was selling baseball cards. While in high school, he completed the Series 7 exam and became a stockbroker.
Silbert set a record by becoming the youngest person to do so. The smart youngster also got a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in 1998.
Rise to Prominence
After college, Silbert landed a job at Houlihan Lokey as an associate. He worked there from 1998 until 2004 and left to found SecondMarket, a company that operates an online marketplace for trading illiquid assets.
Around this time, he served as the CEO of Restricted Stock Partners from 2004 to 2008. Silbert first bought Bitcoin in 2012, well before the cryptocurrency became mainstream. It’s safe to say, he’s made a 100x return on his investment!
Digital Currency Group
Aside from buying crypto early, Silbert built his wealth investing in crypto-focused companies. Barry sold SecondMarket to Nasdaq for an undisclosed amount and started the Digital Currency Group (DCG) in 2015.
DCG has over 200 companies in its investment portfolio, spread across over 30 countries. This includes Coinbase, eToro, and Kraken. It also holds Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Bitcoin, among other digital tokens.
Currently, Digital Currency Group has five subsidiaries including Genesis Trading, Foundry Services, Luno Global, CoinDesk, and perhaps its most successful venture, Grayscale Investments. DCG reported a loss of $1.1 billion for 2022 and is struggling to pay back a loan to Gemini.
Grayscale Investments
Founded in 2013, Grayscale Investments is the one largest digital currency asset manager in the world. It provides corporate and accredited investors with exposure to cryptocurrencies without having to worry about custody. In December 2021, they had $50 billion in assets under management.
The company also runs the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, the first publicly-traded security that tracks the price of Bitcoin. In the past, Silbert has tried to convert the trust into an ETF but Gary Gensler and the SEC have rejected every application.
Net Worth
Silver is classified as a “Bitcoin whale” and has one of the largest Bitcoin holdings in the world as he manages Grayscale, the investment fund that owns around 626,000 Bitcoin and 3 million Ethereum.
Barry Silbert was named on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list in 2011. More recently, he was listed as the 9th wealthiest person in crypto by Forbes.com. The crypto billionaire owns a home in Rye, New York and lives there with his wife Lori Silbert and their son.
