List of top 10 Bitcoin (BTC) holders
Satoshi Nakamoto, Grayscale and Binance are the top three Bitcoin holders.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is estimated to have mined 21 million coins. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts believe this anti-inflation feature will make assets more scarce and valuable.
At present, the total production of Bitcoin is close to 19.5 million, and more than 15% of the Bitcoins are held by 10 individuals or organizations. Ahead, we’ll take a closer look at the largest holders and reveal exactly how much wealth they have.
Satoshi Nakamoto ranks first
The mysterious developer who wrote the asset's original white paper in 2008 (when the global real estate market was in a major collapse) is certainly in the lead, with 1.1 million Bitcoins. At current exchange rates, these Bitcoins are worth approximately $29.5 billion. This number is astounding and shows the value and importance of Bitcoin as a digital asset.
In second place is digital asset management company Grayscale, which previously won important victories in lawsuits with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They currently hold 643,572 Bitcoins, worth approximately $17.2 billion. Behind Grayscale’s success is in-depth research and investment in digital assets, and their results are impressive.
The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Coin is ranked third, with 498,147 Bitcoins. However, it is important to note that this is not Bitcoin owned by Binance, but rather Bitcoin retained on behalf of their users. This is the same for almost all trading platforms in the entire list, they represent the user’s digital assets.
Surprisingly, fifth place belongs to the US government, which has 175,000 confiscated Bitcoins. These Bitcoins came from various criminal activities, and they are now required by the government to keep.
Finally, American Business Intelligence (co-founded by Bitcoin supporter Michael Saylor) ranked sixth with 152,800 BTC. This summer, the company also purchased 420 Bitcoins, demonstrating their continued optimism and investment confidence in Bitcoin.
Block One (140,000 BTC), OKX (118,334 BTC), Robinhood (118,300 BTC), and Winklevoss twins (70,000 BTC) round out the top ten.
potential missing participants
The Bulgarian government has been subject to speculation that it could gain a prominent place in the global ranking of Bitcoin owners. In fact, in 2017, the country’s ruling body successfully confiscated more than 200,000 Bitcoins from illegal miners. Although some media outlets reported on the seizure, former chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev denied its existence.
Over the next few years, there was very limited information about the mysterious Bitcoin reserves that the Bulgarian government might have. Member of Parliament Ivaylo Malchev has tried to raise the topic again and asked the authorities to provide details about the confiscation and the whereabouts of the assets. However, there was no positive response from the authorities, leaving the matter an unsolved mystery.
However, if the Bulgarian government does hold the leading digital currency reserves worth over $5.7 billion, it could rank fourth in the global ranking of Bitcoin owners, behind cryptocurrency exchange Binance. This huge digital currency reserve will be a huge asset to a country and will have a profound impact on Bulgaria’s economic and financial fields.
However, given the Bulgarian government’s silence on these assets, we cannot be sure of the accuracy of this speculation. Bulgaria’s Bitcoin reserves will remain mysterious unless the government is willing to reveal more information. In any case, if the country does possess such a huge digital currency reserve, it will bring huge potential and opportunities to it, and it will also bring a series of new challenges that require wise decision-making and management by the government and relevant authorities.
