Bitcoin appeared in 2009, went through 3 deep corrections (by more than 70%), after which it invariably rewrote the highs. In 2023, the first cryptocurrency still leads the market in terms of capitalization, so it remains an attractive investment instrument. Individuals, companies and states invest in Bitcoin. In the article we will tell you who has the most bitcoins in the world. Readers will learn where to find lists of wallets and how to identify the largest holders of Bitcoin.
How many BTC in the world
Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto limited the asset’s supply to 21 million coins. This increases the value of the cryptocurrency – over time, with stable demand, its rate will grow. By June 2023, 19.4 million units have been mined. You can track the current supply through monitors. The largest amount of BTC miners mined in the first years after the launch. At that time, the complexity of the network was low, koins were mined on home PCs.
The deflationary nature of cryptocurrency provides halving. The halving of the reward for a mined block occurs every 4 years. In 2008, miners received 50 coins for a correct solution, in 2023 – only 6.25. This means that mining is constantly slowing down.
Analysts estimate that about 4 million (20%) of Bitcoin is irretrievably lost. Chainalysys studied cryptocurrency wallet activity since 2013. That’s when the coin’s exchange rate exceeded $100 for the first time. Early investors increased their capital more than 50 times and could record at least part of the profit. However, some addresses still do not have a single transaction. It is believed that access to them is irretrievably lost. If the user has not created a Seed-phrase and lost the password or changed the device, it will not be possible to enter the interface.
How to identify the largest bitcoin holders
The main properties of blockchain technology are transparency and anonymity. All transactions are recorded in a distributed ledger and are available for viewing. In the blockchain browser, you can see the addresses of wallets with the largest amounts of coins. But it is not easy to find out who they belong to.
Law enforcement, developers, and entrepreneurs with large resources can discover an address’s connection to a specific person if the account transfers to a verified account. Most large holders are cautious or simply keep assets in wallets with little to no movement. In such cases, it is almost impossible to identify investors.
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Who has the most bitcoins
Bitcoin is the most liquid and popular coin. Cryptocompanies use it as collateral, large investors include it in portfolios to diversify and protect capital from inflation. States are also hoarding bitcoins. In some countries, BTC is used as a means of payment, such as El Salvador, while in others it diversifies currency reserves.
States can also receive assets for free (seized in fraud cases) and hold on to them for several years until the end of litigation.
Private individuals
According to BitInfoCharts, there are 109 wallets with balances between 10k and 100k BTC in the summer of 2023. However, there is no reliable way to determine who owns them. For example, several addresses may be owned by one person or company. Analysts make approximate lists of those who have the most bitcoins based on the information they themselves report and on indirect data.
| Investor | Number of BTC |
|---|---|
Satoshi Nakamoto
Analysts say the man who created the cryptocurrency has the largest number of bitcoins. He wished to remain anonymous. Shortly after the launch of the cryptocurrency, the man under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto stopped making contact. Experts believe he may have mined 22 blocks (1.1 million BTC). This makes him the largest holder of bitcoins in the world.
The Winklevoss brothers
In 2000, Tyler and Cameron entered Harvard University, and in 2002 they came up with the concept of the social network HarvardConnection. In 2004, Facebook was born. The Winklevoss brothers felt that Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea from them and sued him. Four years later, they agreed to a $64 million payoff and withdrew the lawsuit.
The funds were paid not in cash, but in the form of shares in the social network. They were traded on the stock exchange only in 2012. Then the Winklevosses’ fortune was already estimated at $300 million. In the same 2012, they began buying bitcoin at a price of less than $10. At first they bought 120 thousand coins. But later they increased the volume of investments. Analysts have calculated that in 2023, the Winklevoss brothers own over 179 thousand units. This allows them to be on the list of those who have the most Bitcoin in the world.
Tim Draper
This is one of the most successful Wall Street investors. Some of his best deals include investments in Tesla and Skype. In 2016, Tim Draper bought 30,000 bitcoins from the US government for $19 million. The coins were seized in the Silk Road dark pool case.
The investor does not disclose how many bitcoins he has. But analysts believe he has increased his portfolio in recent years. In 2019, Tim Draper predicted the growth of the first cryptocurrency to $250 thousand. In early 2023, he said that he still considers these levels achievable in the coming months, despite a correction of more than 70%.
Tim Draper is in favor of long-term investments in Bitcoin. In the short term, he considers them dangerous.
Ilon Musk
The billionaire is famous for his Twitter posts that can change the rates of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, by tens of percent. In 2021, he reported that he bought 41 thousand coins worth $1.5 million at a rate of $36 thousand. Soon the cryptocurrency rewrote the highs and reached $69 thousand.
The billionaire continues to publish motivational posts. However, in 2022, for fundamental reasons, the BTC rate began to fall. Messages on Twitter did not have a significant impact on quotations. But despite the change in the market environment, Ilon Musk did not report the sale of coins. Given his wealth and loyal attitude to cryptocurrencies, the balance in BTC may be higher.
Barry Silbert
Analysts call the founder of Digital Currency Group one of the largest holders of bitcoin. In 2015, Barry Silbert bought from the US government 48 thousand coins confiscated from Silk Road for $13.5 million. The entrepreneur is considered an ardent supporter of Bitcoin. He has repeatedly argued that the first cryptocurrency will outlive all other coins.
Barry Silbert is associated with many blockchain projects, including the Coinbase exchange and Galaxy Digital Holdings. His other large BTC purchases have not been reported, but it is likely that he may have increased the number since 2015.
Global companies
The largest cryptocurrency has long been used by businesses to protect capital against inflation. Companies invest a portion of corporate savings in BTC. On a quarterly basis, they provide reports on their financial condition to shareholders and the SEC. Therefore, the amount of bitcoins on their balance sheets can be determined fairly accurately. Usually the data lags by 3-4 months. Sometimes companies publish reports about coin purchases or sales in the media even earlier.
MicroStrategy
The company is engaged in business analytics and cloud services. MicroStrategy started investing in Bitcoin in 2020. The head of the company, Michael Saylor, believes that inflation will devalue national currencies. Therefore, his company invests in the main digital asset every year, regardless of the market environment, and is not going to sell its bitcoins.
Tesla
In January 2021, the company told the SEC that it had invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. This made Tesla the largest holder of the asset among publicly traded companies. Immediately after the news broke in the media, Bitcoin rewrote its high at $44k.
The company also stated that it would accept payments in cryptocurrency. However, later the attitude of executives to bitcoin changed. At the end of 2021, Tesla reported profits from transactions with cryptocurrency. In early 2022, the market began to decline. In the summer of 2022 in the quarterly report, the company reported the sale of 75% of BTC at $22-25 thousand. Tesla decided to record a loss of $34 million.
In January 2023, the company published a quarterly report on financial condition. According to the document, it has 10.72 thousand Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
Galaxy Digital Holdings
The American company provides digital asset management services. Its head Michael Novogratz said that he started investing in BTC in 2018. According to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, Galaxy Digital Holdings has 8.1 thousand crypto coins on its balance sheet in June 2023.
Countries
Among the largest holders of bitcoin are state governments. They mostly obtain assets by seizing them from fraudsters. According to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, the Chinese government holds 194 thousand coins in 2023. They were confiscated while investigating the Plus Token fraud. There is no information about the sale of assets yet.
Ukraine is in second place with 46.35 thousand bitcoins. In 2022, El Salvador recognized the main digital asset as a state currency. The country bought 2.381 thousand crypto coins for $26 billion.
Finland stores 1.98 thousand BTC, which were seized in 2016. There is also a lot of BTC in Russia. However, all crypto coins are held by individuals and companies.
Representatives of the authorities
Unlike ordinary citizens, officials are obliged to declare cryptocurrency. The reports of the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities for 2022 contain information about the possession of a total of 46.3 thousand Bitcoin. In January 2022, a member of the Belgian Parliament Christophe de Bucelaere began to receive a salary in cryptocurrency. Monthly $6.14 thousand was transferred to the official’s account through the Bit4You platform. The politician himself considers the experiment a success, despite the fall in quotations of the asset by more than 70% in a year. He stated that he did not convert the digital currency into fiat, but transferred in full to the cold wallet.
In 2022, Bob Goodlatte, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Justice, declared investments in crypto-assets totaling $80 thousand. The congressman invested in BTC, ETH and BCH.
According to CoinDesk, the SEC requirement to disclose the size of investments in cryptocurrencies affected more than 2 million U.S. officials. Some of them obtained the coins through mining, while others are involved in investing and trading.
Who has the most Bitcoin in Russia
The Russian Federation is a major player in the market. It is logical that there are quite a few bitcoin millionaires in the country. However, it is impossible to establish exactly who has the most bitcoins in Russia. The state of the balances can only be judged by the entrepreneurs’ own statements. It is known that businessmen Kirill Meshcheryakov and Sergey Sergienko created fortunes on early investments in Bitcoin. However, the exact figures on the balances are not disclosed.
The largest BTC wallets
According to BitInfoCharts, there are 4 addresses with balances of more than 100k coins in June 2023. Of these, 2 were created by exchanges Binance (248,597 BTC) and Bitfinex (178,010 BTC) for cold storage of customer funds. The owners of the other 2 addresses are unknown.
It can be assumed that the wallets are also owned by large cryptocurrency companies or private investors. It is possible that they have the same owner. The accounts were created on May 7 and May 8, 2023. The first one was replenished with a single transaction for 117,351 coins. The second one received 20 transfers in 1.5 months. In June 2023, its balance is 111,700 BTC.
Prospects for the development of bitcoin
At the end of 2022, the European Central Bank published a report in which it called the situation after the collapse of the FTX exchange “the last breath of Bitcoin”. The regulator pointed out the coin’s flaws:
- Mining harms the environment.
- The price is maintained artificially.
- The real value of the digital code is zero.
- The lack of regulation allows money laundering.
However, ECB representatives do not take into account that cryptocurrency was originally created as a form of payment beyond the control of governments. At the same time, Bitcoin is accumulated not only by private investors, but also by states. It is being integrated into economic processes.
By 2023, 15 countries have legalized payments in BTC. According to the end of 2022, 38.64 thousand cryptomats were installed in the world. The leaders in their number are the United States, Canada, Spain and Australia. All over the world it is possible to use the services of online and offline exchangers to convert digital currency into national money.
Bitcoin has managed to gather a strong community. It is being used despite the lack of a legal framework. Therefore, the demand for the coin is expected to continue. According to bold predictions, by 2025, its rate could rise to $100 thousand.
Frequently Asked Questions
β What happens to miners when all bitcoins are mined?
Their earnings consist of two parts – block reward and transaction fees. After the last coin is mined, miners will only receive network fees.
π Why does the price of cryptocurrency go up after halving?
Miners sell part of the proceeds on exchanges to cover costs. After the reward decreases, fewer coins enter the market. If demand continues, their exchange rate rises.
β Why do investors favor BTC over other crypto assets?
Most large holders assemble portfolios of different coins. The share of BTC in them is maximized because of its reliability. The coin has great liquidity and has survived 3 major market corrections. Many other cryptocurrencies stopped trading on exchanges after a strong decline.
π° How much can I start investing in Bitcoin?
The minimum order on most exchanges is $1. But you have to pay $3-4 to transfer the asset to your personal wallet. Therefore, it is reasonable to start investing with $100 or more, so that the commission does not exceed 5%.
β Can I pay in BTC?
In Russia, such transactions are prohibited. But in other countries you can pay for purchases. Crypto transfers are accepted by Microsoft, Expedia, AXA Insurance, LOT and other companies.
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Author: Saifedean Ammous, an expert in cryptocurrency economics.
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