Many people dream of being rich in Bitcoin and being able to one day be the holders of one or even several BTC. This is the case for certain entities, whether individuals, companies, or institutions, which have accumulated astronomical quantities of BTC over time. Discover the top 10 largest Bitcoin holders.
Who are the wealthiest entities in Bitcoin?
If there is one thing to know about Bitcoin (BTC), there will ultimately be only 21 million units and much less if we consider those who will be in circulation once they have all been mined.
This number, immutable, forever engraved within the Bitcoin protocol, represents an assurance of its monetary sustainability and an incentive to purchase – or even save – for specific individuals.
While cryptocurrency adoption is well underway and a growing number of newcomers wish to accumulate bitcoins, some entities already own large sums of them.
Whether they are enthusiasts, visionaries, lucky people, individuals, businesses, or state entities, they all have one thing in common: they have a very well-stocked Bitcoin wallet.
Although it is difficult to precisely determine the holdings of entities on the Bitcoin network, here are the top 10 entities holding the most considerable sums of digital gold. Let’s dive into who owns the most bitcoin!
10- Ukrainian government employees – 46,351 BTC
Let’s start this ranking by mentioning Ukraine. A country demonstrating a favorable openness to the adoption of cryptocurrencies for several years, the Ukrainian government has notably collaborated with the Stellar blockchain to develop a digital currency model from January 2021 and is currently adopting crypto-friendly regulations.
What interests us here is not their direct assets held by the public treasury of the Ukrainian government but rather the accumulation of bitcoins operated by civil servants employed by this same government.
An Opendatabot report published in 2021, listing bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies held by Ukrainian government employees, states that 46,351 BTC are controlled by these officials, representing approximately 1.8 billion euros. Of writing these lines (March 2022).
Additionally, the report indicates that specific government sectors concentrate more on cryptocurrency enthusiasts than others. Municipal councilors thus represent 11.8% of holders, followed by the National Police of Ukraine (8.9%), then the Ministry of Defense (5.8%).
9- CoinShares – 69 000 BTC
CoinShares Group is a digital asset manager based in Jersey. Founded in 2015, the Company provides asset management, venture capital, and advisory services in the cryptocurrency industry and manages hundreds of millions of assets.
Operating the XBT Provider family of securities products, CoinShares offers facilitated exposure to digital assets to businesses and individuals through various financial products.
In partnership with asset manager 3IQ, the firm launched the 3IQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF in May 2021 and became one of the first companies to invest in Bitcoin institutionally in Canada.
According to their latest report, the bitcoin funds held by CoinShares total nearly 69,000 BTC.
CoinShares logo
8- The Winklevoss Twins – 70,000 BTC
Brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are known for allegedly being the first (dollar) billionaires during the market peak 2017, thanks to their investment in bitcoin.
Although there is no indication that they are indeed the first to generate such a fortune from their Bitcoin holdings, there is no doubt that their interest in this emerging technology is familiar.
Indeed, in 2008, the twins reached an agreement with Mark Zuckerberg following his trial for intellectual property theft. Receiving $65 million in Facebook stock and cash as collateral, the duo founded a Company in 2012 that provided investments to early-stage businesses and entrepreneurs: Winklevoss Capital.
A few months later, in April 2013, they held approximately $11 million in bitcoins purchased between $8 and $10 each. They began financing several projects related to the cryptocurrency sector, including BitInstant and BlockFi.
They founded the Gemini exchange platform in 2014, one of the first to obtain a license from the New York State Department of Financial Services, and then acquired the NFT platform Nifty Gateway in 2019.
Having broadly diversified their assets and sold part of their bitcoins to invest here and there today, the Winklevoss twins would currently own a modest sum of 70,000 BTC.
From left to right: Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss
7- Gavin Andresen – 100 000 BTC
Gavin Andresen is a developer known in the cypherpunk community for having been one of the first contributors to the Bitcoin project in 2010, but also for having actively participated in its development after the disappearance of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Among other things, he put into service a means of knowing Bitcoin in an applied way: a faucet, a site on which bitcoins were distributed free of charge to visitors until 2012.
Gavin then becomes the maintainer of the Bitcoin project. Its mission was not only to provide new features but also, above all, to ensure that the network functions correctly.
He created the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012 and promoted Bitcoin, gradually ceasing to write or verify code, talking with other developers, and trying to force changes to the protocol that he wanted to see, such as increasing the size of the blocks.
In May 2016, Gavin Andresen claimed, after meeting him in person, that the real Satoshi Nakamoto was the controversial Craig Wright. Therefore, in this context, in June 2016, after having sacrificed his credibility, Gavin Andresen was ejected from the Bitcoin GitHub by his fellow developers.
In 2017, he left the Bitcoin Foundation and, the same year provided his support for Bitcoin Cash, which for him is the continuation of his work undertaken since 2010.
Having purchased numerous bitcoins since 2010 and having been partly paid in BTC for his work with the Bitcoin Foundation, Gavin Andresen’s fortune currently amounts to more than 100,000 BTC.
Gavin Andresen
6- MicroStrategy – 125 051 BTC
Founded in November 1989, MicroStrategy is an American Company offering business intelligence services, going public following its IPO in June 1998.
The Company burst onto the Bitcoin scene in August 2020 by revealing that it had allocated much of its capital to BTC. In the initial press release revealing this decision, MicroStrategy announced that it considers Bitcoin a viable long-term value store.
This is the first time a publicly traded Company has collected bitcoins to invest in. From then on, MicroStrategy will, with the media support of its CEO Michael Saylor, accumulate a significant mass of BTC, amounting to 125,051 bitcoins as of January 31, 2022.
The average base cost of these acquisitions is estimated at $4 billion, at an average price of $32,000 per bitcoin.
MicroStrategy
5- Celsius Network – 135 000 BTC
We find Celsius Network in 5th position in this ranking. Founded in the summer of 2017 in London and equipped with its token (CEL) in 2018, the project offers a centralized lending/borrowing solution at rates of return higher than traditional finance.
According to Alex Maschinsky, one of the project’s founders, Celsius Network held 135,000 BTC as of January 30, 2022. These bitcoins are not the property of Celsius but those of users of the various services provided by the network.
Having yet to provide proof of reservation following his declaration, Alex Maschinsky’s remarks quickly raised questions about the origin of these bitcoins.
These assertions would make Celsius the centralized lending and yield platform concentrating the most BTC if these assertions were to be verified.
Celsius Network logo
4- Block.one – 164 000 BTC
A Company specializing in the production of blockchain software, Block. One is a Company investing heavily in Galaxy Digital, Algo Trader, and Braintrust projects.
Led by Brendan Blumer, this private entity is also known for having brought the EOS project and the Bullish exchange platform into the world.
Having financed the development of EOS via an ICO in Ethers (ETH), raising more than 4 billion dollars, the Company Block. one then diversified its assets and acquired large sums of bitcoins, accumulating to date nearly 164,000 BTC.
3- The Chinese government – 194,775 BTC
At the foot of the podium is the Chinese government, presumed to hold a large mass of BTC, obtained by seizure and not purchase.
Indeed, in November 2020, China seized $4.2 billion in cryptocurrencies from the PlusToken Ponzi, an investment program that promised monthly rates of return greater than 10%.
A few days after the announcement of this intervention, a Chinese court revealed the composition of all the cryptocurrencies seized by the authorities as part of its fight against large-scale scams:
- 194 775 BTC
- 833 083 ETH
- 1,4 million LTC
- 27,6 million EOS
- 487 million XRP
- 79 581 BCH
Although the funds collected represent a colossal fortune and a windfall for the Chinese government, it cannot keep them and is required by law to sell the seized goods at a public auction.
However, even today, the ins and outs of liquidating these seized cryptocurrencies remain uncertain, with no source having been able to deny or confirm with certainty that these confiscations followed a series of auctions or arrangements through over-the-counter (OTC) platforms.
2- Grayscale – 645 885 BTC
The second entity holding the most BTC, American asset manager Grayscale, accumulates at the time of writing 645,199 bitcoins via its GBTC ETF. Launched in 2013 under Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT), this fund intended for institutional investors has experienced rapid growth since then.
Grayscale allows investors to gain exposure to BTC through a private trust traded directly on the US stock market.
Having started an assiduous accumulation of bitcoins at the end of 2013, the fund opted for an aggressive strategy in 2020 before initiating a controlled distribution phase in January 2021.
Grayscale then diversified widely from 2021 to welcome numerous crypto-actives such as Ether (ETH), ADA from Cardano, and even SOL from Solana under its leadership.
Grayscale logo
1- Satoshi Nakamoto – 1 125 150 BTC
The creator of Bitcoin, who hides behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, remains the primary known holder of bitcoins.
Having mined more than 22,000 blocks during the first years of the network’s development, he would have received more than a million bitcoins as a reward. The number of bitcoins held by addresses associated with Satoshi is now estimated to be around 1,125,150 BTC.
The former has not even touched his dormant band, which has remained for more than 13 years. If he sold all his savings, Satoshi could enter the pantheon of the greatest fortunes ever.
However, there is no indication that this should happen, as the addresses linked to this entity have a non-existent spending history until now.
Satoshi Nakamoto
Conclusion
Here is our ranking, bringing together the top 10 largest Bitcoin holders known to date. Please note that this classification is non-exhaustive and subject to change depending on variations in the entities’ assets on the network and the information available on the subject.
