Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen could be one of the biggest victims of the cryptocurrency market slump, Business Insider reported.
Larsen, who is believed to hold 5.19 billion of the company’s XRP cryptocurrency, could have lost as much as $12 billion after the price of the XRP token dipped to about $1.
The co-founder could have cashed out at any time, though a sell-off of that magnitude would likely have sent massive waves through both the XRP markets and cryptocurrencies as a whole.
Larsen’s holdings would have made him the 5th richest person on the Forbes 400 list, when Ripple surged past $3.5 on January 4.
The 57-year-old stepped down as CEO of Ripple in November 2016, turning over the reigns to current CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who owns a 6.3% stake in the company. Larsen currently serves as chairman.
Ripple's XRP token is the fastest and most scalable digital asset, enabling real-time global payments anywhere in the world.