#reusedbitcoinaddresseshold4.33mbtc
Nearly a Third of Bitcoin Sits Behind Visible Public Keys. Why That Matters
Bitcoin's design encourages a fresh address for every transaction. A new Glassnode analysis suggests a growing share of holders aren't following that habit.
Here's what the data shows: on October 8, Glassnode co-founder Rafael Schultze-Kraft shared that about 4.33 million BTC, roughly 21.5% of circulating supply, sits in reused addresses whose public keys are already visible on-chain, a figure up around 14% recently. Add structural exposure, mainly old Pay-to-Public-Key outputs (about 1.71 million BTC, of which roughly 1.10 million is linked to Satoshi Nakamoto) and Taproot (about 222,000 BTC), and the total behind visible keys reaches 6.26 million BTC, or 31.2% of supply. Exchanges hold about 1.79 million BTC under visible keys, around 57% of identified exchange holdings.
Why does this matter? A visible public key isn't a vulnerability today, and it doesn't mean funds are at risk now. It becomes relevant only if a sufficiently powerful quantum computer someday emerges, which is why the topic keeps surfacing alongside this week's debate about cryptography and AI. Coins in never-spent addresses keep their keys hidden until moved, so exposure is partly a behavioral choice, and partly a design legacy that can't easily be changed for dormant coins.
Whether exchanges and large holders adopt better address hygiene before any real threat emerges is an open question. Is this a long-horizon risk worth preparing for now, or noise until the technology actually arrives? ๐ค
#bitcoin #quantum #Glassnode #CryptoSecurity
$OGN $BTC $STRK
Nearly a Third of Bitcoin Sits Behind Visible Public Keys. Why That Matters
Bitcoin's design encourages a fresh address for every transaction. A new Glassnode analysis suggests a growing share of holders aren't following that habit.
Here's what the data shows: on October 8, Glassnode co-founder Rafael Schultze-Kraft shared that about 4.33 million BTC, roughly 21.5% of circulating supply, sits in reused addresses whose public keys are already visible on-chain, a figure up around 14% recently. Add structural exposure, mainly old Pay-to-Public-Key outputs (about 1.71 million BTC, of which roughly 1.10 million is linked to Satoshi Nakamoto) and Taproot (about 222,000 BTC), and the total behind visible keys reaches 6.26 million BTC, or 31.2% of supply. Exchanges hold about 1.79 million BTC under visible keys, around 57% of identified exchange holdings.
Why does this matter? A visible public key isn't a vulnerability today, and it doesn't mean funds are at risk now. It becomes relevant only if a sufficiently powerful quantum computer someday emerges, which is why the topic keeps surfacing alongside this week's debate about cryptography and AI. Coins in never-spent addresses keep their keys hidden until moved, so exposure is partly a behavioral choice, and partly a design legacy that can't easily be changed for dormant coins.
Whether exchanges and large holders adopt better address hygiene before any real threat emerges is an open question. Is this a long-horizon risk worth preparing for now, or noise until the technology actually arrives? ๐ค
#bitcoin #quantum #Glassnode #CryptoSecurity
$OGN $BTC $STRK