The ranks of crypto millionaires have reached an unprecedented 241,700 people worldwide, according to the new Crypto Wealth Report 2025 released by leading international residency and citizenship advisory specialists. Henley & Partners, presenting proprietary data from a global wealth intelligence company Wealth of the New World. This is a remarkable 40% increase in just 12 months, fueled by a dramatic increase in the number of Bitcoin millionaires – up 70% year-over-year to 145,100 holders – and a booming total market valuation of $3.3 trillion in June 2025, a 45% jump from the previous year.
At the top of the crypto wealth pyramid, the number of ultra-rich individuals is rising sharply: 450 centimillionaires now control crypto wallets worth $100 million or more, up 38% since last year, while the number of crypto billionaires has increased to 36, an increase of 29%. This significant growth coincides with a pivotal year for institutional adoption, highlighted by the launch of the first-ever cryptocurrencies by a sitting President and First Lady of the United States.
Dominic Volek, head of the Private Client Group at Henley & Partners, says the rapid rise of this new class of crypto wealth is forcing governments, tax authorities and wealth managers to confront a new, uncharted reality. “As an estimated $14.4 trillion of wealth crossed national borders in 2024, the entire architecture of modern finance assumes that money has a home address, but cryptocurrency does not. For millennia, storing wealth meant anchoring it in a location. Even with digital banking, you needed a residential address and a tax ID number just to open an account. Today, cryptocurrency has made geography optional: with just 12 words memorized, an individual can obtain a billion dollars in Bitcoin, instantly accessible from Zurich or Zhengzhou even.”
Wealth without borders: Bitcoin rewrites the rules of money
As cryptocurrency wealth matures, the Crypto Wealth Report 2025 documents fundamental changes in how affluent digital asset investors structure their businesses globally. Machine learning systems now manage an increasingly large share of institutional cryptocurrency portfolios, while Switzerland has become a primary hub for custody services. The move to Bitcoin as collateral rather than a speculative asset marks a critical development, as Philipp A. Baumann, founder of Z22 Technologies, points out. “Bitcoin is becoming the foundation of a parallel financial system, where (it) is not simply an investment for speculation on fiat price appreciation, but the base currency for wealth accumulation.”
The philosophical implications of this shift are profound, according to Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, illustrating the tension between traditional and digital monetary systems: “Over any long-term horizon, fiat currency has one destiny: infinity. Bitcoin, on the contrary, has the opposite: 21 million.” This fixed supply versus infinite expansion represents what Mow calls “the defining paradox of our time,” as governments grapple with a form of wealth that exists outside of traditional monetary control.
The convergence of crypto wealth and global mobility is accelerating. Catherine Chen, Head of VIP and Institutional at Binance, observes that “this new mobility-focused investor class is increasingly looking to citizenship through investment programs as a strategic path to geographic and financial flexibility.” Townsend Lansing, head of product at CoinShares, confirms the broader dynamic: “Driven by regulatory tailwinds, institutional adoption has not only arrived, but is accelerating. » Dr. Guneet Kaur, editor-in-chief of CCN.com and research scientist at Exponential Science, agrees, adding that “CBDCs, digital forms of a country’s legal tender, are being explored by more than 100 economies, with 49 countries in pilot phase as of July 2025. In jurisdictions where traditional banks impose restrictions, CBDCs promise cheaper and faster state-backed payments.”
Benchmarking Global Crypto-Friendly Jurisdictions
High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) with large cryptocurrency holdings are among the most mobile in the world, highlighting the strong link between cryptocurrencies and cross-border wealth flows, according to Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth. “We also see crypto and gold emerging as the preferred alternative assets of the world’s wealthy. In previous decades, gemstones like diamonds were widely used to discreetly move money across borders thanks to their portability. Today, crypto and gold have largely taken their place as modern stores of portable wealth.”
This rapid expansion of borderless wealth is reshaping the way HNWIs organize their global affairs. As Volek points out, crypto millionaires are looking for jurisdictions that not only recognize digital assets, but also offer residency and citizenship solutions tailored to their internationally mobile lifestyles. “For this new class of investors, diversification across multiple jurisdictions has become a hedge against regulatory volatility and technological obsolescence. The ability to engage in innovation hubs while maintaining legal certainty is now seen as essential, with investment migration programs providing a structured path to greater security and global access.”
The Henley Crypto Adoption Index, a proprietary tool updated annually as part of the Crypto Wealth Report, addresses this need by comparing the world’s most crypto-friendly countries with investment migration programs. Drawing on over 750 data points, it provides digital asset investors with a clear overview of how these different jurisdictions with residency and citizenship by investment regulate and adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain. By highlighting the most progressive destinations, the index provides a clear view of opportunities to safeguard wealth, optimize tax efficiency and access traditional financial systems.
Best Crypto Investment Migration Picks
The index evaluates 29 investment migration programs across six key parameters: public adoption, infrastructure adoption, innovation and technology, regulatory environment, economic factors and favorable taxation, allowing investors to identify jurisdictions that best match their priorities.
Singapore leads with exceptional scores in infrastructure adoption, innovation and technology, and regulatory environment. Hong Kong (SAR China) follows with strong economic factors and high taxation, while the United States has strong public adoption and innovation and technology indicators. Switzerland and the UAE round out the top 5, with the Emirates scoring a perfect 10 for tax friendliness, with zero taxes on cryptocurrency trading, staking and mining.
Malta and the United Kingdom also score very highly overall, both offering sophisticated regulatory frameworks, while Canada, Thailand and Australia round out the top spot with balanced strengths across multiple factors.
Luxembourg brings deep financial expertise to digital assets while Portugal rewards patient crypto investors: those who hold for more than a year pay no capital gains tax. Austria applies securities tax frameworks to cryptocurrencies, while Italy’s flat tax regime for new residents includes crypto gains of foreign origin. Monaco attracts ultra-wealthy crypto holders with zero personal income tax.
Next wave destinations
Beyond Europe and the United States, Saint Kitts and Nevis accepts cryptocurrencies for citizenship applications, as does Antigua and Barbuda. Thailand recently announced a five-year capital gains exemption for crypto trading and Malaysia is boosting its fintech capabilities through digital free trade zone initiatives. Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is leveraging its position between Africa and Asia to attract crypto companies.
Countries as diverse as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Greece, Latvia, New Zealand, Panama, Turkey and Uruguay have all developed strategies to attract investors in mobile digital assets, recognizing that even a small share of the crypto economy can bring significant benefits.
As Volek concludes, the rise of cryptocurrencies has democratized capabilities once reserved for the ultra-rich. “The same mechanisms that multinational corporations have long used to shift profits and manage their exposure across borders are now available to anyone with an Internet connection. This marks a profound shift: enabling individuals to take control of their wealth on a global scale, while challenging governments whose tax systems depend on the ability to monitor, regulate and tax economic activity.”
The full 2025 Crypto Wealth Report is available online.
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Notes to editors
About Henley & Associates
Henley & Partners is the global leader in residency and citizenship planning. Every year, hundreds of high net worth individuals and their advisors trust our expertise and experience in this area. The firm’s highly skilled professionals work together as a single team in more than 70 offices around the world.
The concept of residency and citizenship planning was created by Henley & Partners in the 1990s. As globalization expands, residency and citizenship have become topics of major interest among the growing number of internationally mobile entrepreneurs and investors that we are proud to serve every day.
Henley & Partners also runs the world’s leading government wealth migration consultancy, which has raised more than $15 billion in foreign direct investment. Recognized by governments, the company has been involved in strategic consulting as well as the design, implementation and operation of the world’s most successful residency and citizenship programs.
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