{"id":12023,"date":"2022-07-04T13:28:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-04T13:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/hodlers-and-whales-who-owns-the-most-bitcoin-in-2022\/"},"modified":"2022-07-04T13:28:49","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T13:28:49","slug":"hodlers-and-whales-who-owns-the-most-bitcoin-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/hodlers-and-whales-who-owns-the-most-bitcoin-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Hodlers and whales: Who owns the most Bitcoin in 2022?"},"content":{"rendered":"
One of the main features of the Bitcoin blockchain is its transparency. Bitcoin lets anyone see every transaction that has ever been made on its network and check the balance of every address out there. Because of this transparency, we\u2019re able to know who owns the most Bitcoin (BTC) in 2022.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to look at who owns the most BTC, as the cryptocurrency\u2019s supply is limited to 21 million coins. In February, Kim Grauer, director of research at blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that an estimated 3.7 million BTC have been lost, effectively deflating the cryptocurrency\u2019s circulating supply.<\/p>\n
Experts estimate that as Bitcoin\u2019s adoption rises, demand for it will skyrocket. As 3.7 million coins are estimated to be lost and a significant amount is being held on-chain by early investors, what may follow is a supply shock. Such a shock could only materialize if demand skyrockets in the future.<\/p>\n
Those who own the most Bitcoin are set to greatly benefit from such a shock. Moreover, a significant supply being held by one entity is seen as a risk because if that entity ends up selling its war chest on the market, it could lead to a significant downside.<\/p>\n
The entity that is widely acknowledged to hold the most Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency\u2019s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto is believed to have around 1.1 million BTC that they have never touched throughout the years, leading to several theories regarding their identity and situation.<\/p>\n
A significant amount of analysis has been put into determining how many coins Nakamoto actually has. After bringing BTC into existence by mining the genesis block, Nakamoto mined a significant number of blocks through their hardware at the time, with each block coming with a 50-BTC reward. <\/p>\n
Nakamoto always used different Bitcoin addresses and disappeared back in 2010. It\u2019s unclear how many blocks they mined as other early adopters got in on the action rather early as well. Lower estimates point to Nakamoto having around 750,000 BTC. <\/p>\n
While the exact holdings of Nakamoto aren\u2019t completely clear, those of publicly traded companies, governments, funds and other transparent organizations are. <\/p>\n
Over time, several organizations have added Bitcoin to their balance sheets. The most notable is business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, which accumulated 129,218 BTC after first investing in the cryptocurrency in August 2020.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s CEO, Michael Saylor, has doubled down on the company\u2019s Bitcoin strategy throughout the bear market, saying MicroStrategy plans to hold BTC \u201cthrough adversity.\u201d In early 2021, possibly thanks to influence from Saylor, electric car maker Tesla also invested in Bitcoin, risking $1.5 billion to buy 43,200 BTC.<\/p>\n
According to Bitcoin Treasuries, a website tracking the Bitcoin held by publicly traded firms, other companies that have Bitcoin on their balance sheet include Core Scientific, BTC Miner Marathon Digital Holdings, fintech giant Square, crypto exchange Coinbase and crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital.<\/p>\n
Thomas Perfumo, head of business operations and strategy at Kraken, spoke to Cointelegraph regarding companies\u2019 cryptocurrency holdings:<\/p>\n
\u201cAll companies should have an open mind towards Bitcoin, but they should consider what represents the best interests of their shareholders. At Kraken, we hold cryptocurrencies as a treasury asset.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Perfumo added that Kraken also offers employees the option to take \u201cas much of their salary in crypto as they would like via a payroll solution we call Sidemoon.\u201d He added that a \u201csignificant number\u201d of Kraken\u2019s employees take advantage of the solution.<\/p>\n
Public companies are estimated to have a total of 268,271 BTC, equivalent to over 1.27% of Bitcoin\u2019s total supply. Over the years, however, several private companies have also revealed they hold BTC.<\/p>\n
The private companies with the largest amounts of BTC are the firm behind the EOSIO software Block.one, which holds 140,000 BTC, the Tezos Foundation, which holds 17,500 BTC, and Stone Ridge Holdings Group, with 10,000 BTC. MassMutual comes next, with 3,500 BTC.<\/p>\n
In total, private companies reportedly have 202,068 BTC. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Bill Barhydt, CEO of crypto investment firm Abra, noted companies should invest in BTC but opt for the \u201cright size\u201d for their treasuries. Barhydt added:<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies with a long-term time horizon should consider putting even more of their liquid assets into Bitcoin and Ethereum.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The CEO revealed Abra holds Bitcoin by likening it to companies known to have invested in the cryptocurrency, including Tesla. Per his words, as accounting rules in the United States are \u201cfixed and modernized, it will become even easier to replicate\u201d what companies like these are doing.<\/p>\n
Countries that own the most Bitcoin<\/h2>\n
There are several countries holding Bitcoin as well. Most have gotten their hands on the flagship cryptocurrency by seizing it, but these holdings are often quickly sold in auctions to private investors.<\/p>\n
El Salvador is the country holding the most Bitcoin, with 2,301 BTC in its treasury. The country adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender in September 2021 and has invested in it numerous times. It\u2019s planning on creating a Bitcoin City, using power from a volcano.<\/p>\n
In April 2022, Finland was reported to be holding 1,981 BTC confiscated during criminal investigations with plans to auction off the funds later on in the year. At the time of writing, no report suggesting the funds have been auctioned emerged.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian civil servants have provided data through Opendatabot showing they have owned a total of 46,351 BTC as of April 5, 2021. These declarations came as property disclosure requirements imposed on public officials, meaning they\u2019re the holdings of individuals and not the government itself.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Georgian parliament members are said to collectively hold 66 BTC, although the funds belong to private individuals and not the government.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin fund holdings<\/h2>\n
Cryptocurrency investment funds allow investors to gain exposure to their underlying assets without dealing with them. In practice, this means gaining exposure to a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin without having to deal with public or private keys.<\/p>\n
Funds add more Bitcoin in response to investor inflows and divest of their holdings as investors withdraw. The largest fund holding Bitcoin is Grayscale\u2019s Bitcoin Trust, which has 643,572 BTC, equivalent to over 3% of the cryptocurrency\u2019s circulating supply. Next is CoinShares, which holds around 42,980 BTC through XBT Provider\u2019s exchange-traded products.<\/p>\n
Ahead of this month\u2019s crypto market sell-off, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF was the largest exchange-traded fund by BTC holdings. The sell-off saw the fund\u2019s holdings drop from 47,818 BTC to 23,307 BTC between June 16 and 17, a staggering 51% drop. The fund\u2019s holdings are still estimated to be above those of 3iQ\u2019s CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, which has an estimated 12,115 BTC.<\/p>\n
Largest individual Bitcoin holdings<\/h2>\n
Bitcoin addresses are pseudonymous, which means that while we easily see what addresses have the most Bitcoin in them, we can only identify who\u2019s behind each one through extensive blockchain analysis or if the entity behind them comes forward.<\/p>\n
Data from BitInfoCharts shows that the top Bitcoin wallets belong to cryptocurrency exchanges, which means they hold the assets of various users who choose custody of their funds on exchanges. Data shows there are five Bitcoin addresses with between 100,000 and 1 million BTC in them. Four of these have been identified and belong to exchanges.<\/p>\n