BitMEX Co-Founder Becomes Britain's First Bitcoin Billionaire and Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

Ben Delo, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX is revealed as Britain's first Bitcoin billionaire and youngest self-made billionaire.

Offering up to 100x leverage trading and Bitcoin derivatives trading, BitMEX is valued at around $3.6 billion and handles over $2 billion in daily trading volume.

The early days of BitMEX were a challenging time - in order to build the platform, the British billionaire recalls working tirelessly for four years, with stretches of 18-hour days.

Successfully launched in 2014, BitMEX is now a multi-billion dollar company.

The Sunday Times reports that the co-founders collectively have hundreds of millions sitting in their bank accounts, with the rest of their billionaire status tied to the valuation of the Bitmex platform and crypto assets.

While 2018 has not been a great year for bitcoin's value so far, it has been good for BitMEX. In an interview with CNBC, BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes stated,.

Volatility, Delo argues, is what allows Bitcoin to soar.

While 2013-2015 saw a drop of over 80%, from $1200 to $200, that same volatility allowed Bitcoin to grow from $200 to $20,000 from 2015 to 2017.

While there have been many recent positive contributions to Bitcoin, like Coinbase opening up to institutional money, Union Square Ventures' plans to make long-term investments in "a potential trillion dollar market" and Andreessen Horowitz's $300 million a16z fund, a Bitcoin ETF would truly be a game-changer.

If approved, anyone with a 401K, IRA or an investment account with brokers like Fidelity and Ameriprise could easily invest in the bitcoin market and push the total market cap for cryptocurrencies to and possibly beyond previous highs.