This is just incorrect. There are generally two types of people; some hate taxes, and the higher the gain the bigger the incentive is to move abroad (this generally does not apply to Americans, as they are taxed globally). And then you have people who don't care and would pay the tax either way -- whether it's set at 10% or 35%.

That $1 billion also quickly turned into $500 million anyway if they held off selling last year to deal with these tax issues.

Ironically it might make more sense to avoid taxes if the money is not for you. (For example, someone who takes effective altruism seriously.) But then again they could just donate the money anonymously.

> Life with $500 million and $1 billion would not be very different.

Except for one important detail: membership in the Three Comma Club :-). Purchasing power has long ceased to matter for these people: money is just a way to keep score in a game. It can be traded for equally pointless status symbols like bigger yachts, tropical islands, or (recently) Mars rockets. That bitcoin billionaire would much rather turn $500 million into dollar bills and set them on fire than let them be used to fix some of America's worn-out roads and bridges.

you're forgetting the ideology behind early participants. I wouldn't call it liberal, but that gets the point across.