Going deep into the depths of the blockchain the top Bitcoin investors and holders, ranging from individuals to companies and even governments are revealed .
WHO OWNS THE BIGGEST BITCOIN ?
1st: Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin, is believed to be in possession of a wallet with 1,100,000 BTC, which makes them the largest Bitcoin holder. Other large Bitcoin holders include the publicly traded MicroStrategy, with a 140,000 BTC stash, and electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, with 9,720 BTC.While cryptocurrency exchanges are some of the largest holders of Bitcoin, with Coinbase, for instance, storing over 2,000,000 BTC, they are custodians of their users’ funds and don’t own these Bitcoin.For this reason, they are not included in this list. The same goes for Grayscale, Coinshares, and other funds and ETF-like investment vehicles.
Here’s an overview of the largest Bitcoin holders:
1. Satoshi Nakamoto - 1,100,000 BTC ($29.6 billion)Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto is widely believed to be in possession of the largest Bitcoin stash, estimated to be holding 1.1 million BTC. That would make Satoshi the richest Bitcoin holder in the world, controlling more than 5% of all Bitcoin in circulation. It is worth noting that nobody knows whether Satoshi Nakamoto is a single person or a group of people, or whether they are still alive. That’s just one of the mysteries surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto. It is worth noting that no BTC deposited in Satoshi’s wallet was ever moved.
2. Winklevoss Twins - 70,000 BTC ($1.9 billion)The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, are American entrepreneurs and investors who gained fame for their involvement in the early days of Facebook and their subsequent ventures in the cryptocurrency space (they opened the crypto exchange Gemini in 2013). They also founded Winklevoss Capital Management, a venture capital firm that invests in various technology-based companies, including those operating in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors. According to a report from Fool.com, the twins started investing in BTC when it was worth just $10 in 2012 and are believed to hold roughly 70,000 BTC.
3. Tim Draper - 29,656 ($803 million)Tim Draper is an American venture capitalist and entrepreneur known for his investments in early-stage technology companies, including blockchain-focused ventures. In 2014, he purchased nearly 30,000 BTC at an auction held by the United States Marshals Service, which was selling Bitcoin seized in the Silk Road raid. Meanwhile, Draper is very bullish on Bitcoin.
PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES THAT OWN THE MOST BITCOIN
There are several notable publicly traded companies that have invested in Bitcoin as part of their investment strategy and diversification efforts. Let’s explore the top three.
1. Microstrategy - 140,000 BTC ($3.8 billion)MicroStrategy (MSTR) is an American business intelligence company that specializes in providing software solutions and services for data analytics and business intelligence. In recent years, MicroStrategy has gained significant attention for its adoption of Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.Interestingly, at $3.88 billion, the market cap of Microstrategy is just a tad higher than the total value of Bitcoin it holds ($3.79 billion).
2. Tesla - 9,720 BTC ($263 million)Electric car manufacturer Tesla (TSLA) is the second largest Bitcoin owner among publicly traded companies. While the company holds less than 10,000 BTC at the time of writing, it did hold as many as 43,850 coins in the past. Tesla was accepting BTC payments for a brief period in 2021, but eventually discontinued the service due to environmental concerns. In addition to Bitcoin, Tesla is also involved with Dogecoin – Elon Musk’s favorite crypto, allowing customers to buy merch with DOGE. It is worth noting that Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is invested in Bitcoin in a personal capacity as well, although it is unknown to what extent.
3. Hut 8 Mining Corp - 8,388 BTC ($227 million)Hut 8 Mining Corp (HUT) is a digital assets mining infrastructure company based in North America. The company operates cloud and colocation data center facilities in Canada, targeting enterprise customers seeking computing services. According to Bitcoin Treasuries, Hut 8 Mining Corp has a Bitcoin stash worth more than $227 million, making it the third largest publicly traded company in the world.Private companies that own the most Bitcoin Private companies are one of the largest Bitcoin owners.
Here are the top three largest BTC stashes belonging to private companies.
1. Block.one - 164,000 BTC ($4.4 billion)Founded in 2017, Block.one is a software company that is known for developing and supporting blockchain-based solutions, including the creation of the EOS.IO software protocol. Block.one conducted an initial coin offering for EOS in 2018, raising a record-breaking amount of funds through the sale of its native cryptocurrency token, EOS. The ICO raised over $4 billion dollars, making it the largest ICOs in history.
2. Tether Holdings - 52,673 BTC ($1.4 billion)Tether Holdings is a company that is closely associated with the creation and management of the Tether (USDT) stablecoin cryptocurrency. Tether Holdings operates by issuing and managing Tether tokens, which are built on different blockchain platforms such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others. Each Tether token is meant to represent one U.S. dollar.
3. The Tezos Foundation - 24,808 BTC ($672 million)Founded in 2018, the Tezos Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the development and advancement of the Tezos (XTZ) blockchain network. Among other things, the foundation manages and allocates the funds raised during the ICO to support the ongoing development and sustainability of the Tezos ecosystem.
According to Bitcoin Treasuries, the foundation manages more than $672 million worth of BTC.
