Bitcoin Ownership Concentration Among Institutional Investors
As the demand for Bitcoin continues to rise, institutional investors are increasingly interested in acquiring the cryptocurrency. However, due to its limited supply of 21 million units, the ability to own one whole Bitcoin may become concentrated among these high-capitalized players. At present, a single Bitcoin is valued at approximately $29,500, with close to 19.52 million BTC currently in circulation.
It’s important to note that Bitcoin operates on a pseudonymous network, allowing individuals to control multiple addresses without any identifiable link between them. Consequently, determining the number of people who own one Bitcoin is practically impossible.
Nonetheless, according to data retrieved from BitInfoCharts by Finbold on October 20, there are 1,018,130 addresses holding at least one Bitcoin. These addresses collectively possess around 18.12 million BTC, accounting for 92.87% of the entire circulating supply.
Bitcoin Population Equivalent to Capital Cities
If we consider the number of addresses as the Bitcoin population, the count of addresses owning at least one Bitcoin would be comparable to the populations of capital cities such as Ottawa in Canada or Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, both with approximately one million residents.
The total value held by this population amounts to about $534.54 billion based on the current Bitcoin price. This figure exceeds the $415 billion GDP of the entire United Arab Emirates by over $100 billion.
However, it’s worth noting that this wealth is concentrated among an even smaller number of individuals who own one Bitcoin or more. According to BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com, on average, each person owns between 3 and 10 cryptocurrency wallets and numerous different addresses.
Furthermore, the majority of addresses are controlled by custodians, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, with only a small percentage belonging to economically active wallets owned by private individuals on the network.
Hot Take: Bitcoin Ownership Concentration and Institutional Dominance
The increasing interest from institutional investors in Bitcoin raises concerns about the concentration of ownership. As more institutions acquire large amounts of Bitcoin, the ability for individual retail investors to own one whole coin becomes more challenging.
This concentration of ownership among institutions may result in a power imbalance within the Bitcoin market, potentially impacting its decentralization and democratization goals. It remains crucial for regulators and market participants to monitor this trend closely and ensure that the benefits of cryptocurrency ownership are accessible to a wide range of individuals.
By
By
By
By
By