Do you know who owns Bitcoin? Have you ever thought about it?
Bitcoin is a form of digital currency which operates independently of a central bank or other authority, relying instead on thousands of computers worldwide to protect and store its transactions. It was first introduced in 2009 by the mysterious figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto, who some believe is a pseudonym for an individual or group.
Bitcoin has become an increasingly popular investment in recent years, with many investors hoping to cash in on the cryptocurrency’s soaring price. However, unlike stocks or mutual funds, Bitcoin does not have any publicly available ownership records – so just who owns the digital currency remains something of a mystery. In this article, we’ll look at how ownership of Bitcoin works and examine the data available on big-name owners.
Bitcoin Owners by Category:
Totals by Category
| Category | # of BTC | Value Today | % of 21m |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETFs | 816,379 | $35,626,793,928 | 3.888% |
| Countries | 260,486 | $11,367,613,625 | 1.24% |
| Public Companies | 227,374 | $9,922,605,362 | 1.083% |
| Private Companies | 174,068 | $7,596,330,584 | 0.829% |
| Totals: | 1,487,866 | $64,930,498,426 | 7.085% |
Public Companies that Own Bitcoin
| Entity | Country | Exchange:Symbol | Filings & Sources | # of BTC | Value Today | % of 21m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MicroStrategy | MSTR:NADQ | Filing | News | 114,042 | $4,976,794,887 | 0.543% | |
| Tesla, Inc | TSLA:NADQ | Filing | News | 42,902 | $1,872,244,035 | 0.204% | |
| Galaxy Digital Holdings | BRPHF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 16,400 | $715,696,289 | 0.078% | |
| Voyager Digital LTD | VYGR:CSE | Filing | News | 12,260 | $535,026,616 | 0.058% | |
| Square Inc. | SQ:NYSE | Filing | News | 8,027 | $350,298,421 | 0.038% | |
| Marathon Digital Holdings Inc | MARA:NADQ | Filing | News | 6,695 | $292,169,918 | 0.032% | |
| Coinbase Global, Inc. | COIN:NADQ | Filing | News | 4,482 | $195,594,559 | 0.021% | |
| Hut 8 Mining Corp | HUT:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 4,240 | $185,033,675 | 0.02% | |
| Bitcoin Group SE | BTGGF:TCMKTS | Filing | News | 3,947 | $172,247,149 | 0.019% | |
| Riot Blockchain, Inc. | RIOT:NADQ | Filing | News | 2,687 | $117,260,727 | 0.013% | |
| Bitfarms Limited | BITF:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 2.028 | $88,501,956 | 0.01% | |
| NEXON Co. Ltd | NEXOF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 1,717 | $74,929,910 | 0.008% | |
| Argo Blockchain PLC | ARBKF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 1,268 | $55,335,542 | 0.006% | |
| Brooker Group’s BROOK (BKK) | BROOK:BKK | Filing | News | 1,150 | $50,186,020 | 0.005% | |
| Hive Blockchain | HVBT:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 946 | $41,283,457 | 0.005% | |
| Meitu | HKD:HKG | Filing | News | 941 | $41,065,257 | 0.004% | |
| Bit Digital, Inc. | BTBT:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 588 | $25,660,330 | 0.003% | |
| BIGG Digital Assets Inc. | BBKCF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 430 | $18,765,208 | 0.002% | |
| Digihost Technology Inc. | HSSHF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 402 | $17,543,287 | 0.002% | |
| Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. | HODL:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 386 | $16,845,047 | 0.002% | |
| CleanSpark Inc | CLSK:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 301 | $13,135,645 | 0.001% | |
| Advanced Bitcoin Technologies AG | ABT:DUS | Filing | News | 254 | $11,084,564 | 0.001% | |
| DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. | DMGGF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 250 | $10,910,004 | 0.001% | |
| DigitalX | DGGXF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 216 | $9,426,244 | 0.001% | |
| MercadoLibre, Inc. | MELI:NADQ | Filing | News | 150 | $6,546,003 | 0.001% | |
| Fortress Blockchain | FORT:CVE | Filing | News | 140 | $6,109,602 | 0.001% | |
| Banxa Holdings Inc | BNXAF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 136 | $5,935,042 | 0.001% | |
| Neptune Digital Assets | NPPTF:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 105 | $4,582,202 | 0.001% | |
| BTCS Inc. | BTCS:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 90 | $3,927,602 | 0.0% | |
| FRMO Corp. | FRMO:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 63 | $2,749,321 | 0.0% | |
| LQwD FinTech Corp | OTC:INLAF | Filing | News | 60 | $2,618,401 | 0.0% | |
| Metromile | MILE:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 25 | $1,091,000 | 0.0% | |
| Phunware, Inc. | PHUN:NASDAQ | Filing | News | 25.8 | $1,091,000 | 0.0% | |
| MOGO Financing | MOGO:Nasdaq | Filing | News | 18 | $785,520 | 0.0% | |
| Net Holding Anonim Sirketi | NTHOL TI:IST | Filing | News | 3 | $130,920 | 0.0% | |
| Totals: | 227,374 | $9,922,605,362 | 1.083% |
Countries & Governments that Own Bitcoin
| Entity | Country | Filings & Sources | # of BTC | Value Today | % of 21m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | Filing | News | 213,519 | $9,317,972,918 | 1.017% | |
| Ukraine (govt) | Filing | News | 46,351 | $2,022,758,456 | 0.221% | |
| El Salvador | Filing | News | 550 | $24,002,010 | 0.003% | |
| Georgia (govt) | Filing | News | 66 | $2,880,241 | 0.0% | |
| Totals: | 260,486 | $11,367,613,625 | 1.24% |
Private Companies that Own Bitcoin
| Entity | Country | Filings & Sources | # of BTC | Value Today | % of 21m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block.one | Filing | News | 140,000 | $6,109,602,464 | 0.667% | |
| The Tezos Foundation | Filing | News | 17,500 | $763,700,308 | 0.083% | |
| Stone Ridge Holdings Group | Filing | News | 10,000 | $436,400,176 | 0.048% | |
| Massachusetts Mutual | Filing | News | 3,500 | $152,740,062 | 0.017% | |
| Lisk Foundation | Filing | News | 1,898 | $82,828,753 | 0.009% | |
| Seetee AS | Filing | News | 1,170 | $51,058,821 | 0.006% | |
| Totals: | 174,068 | $7,596,330,584 | 0.829% |
ETFs that Own Bitcoin
| Entity | Country | Exchange:Symbol | Filings & Sources | # of BTC | Value Today | % of 21m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust | GBTC:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 654,600 | $28,566,755,521 | 3.117% | |
| CoinShares / XBT Provider | XBTE:NADQ | Filing | News | 48,466 | $2,115,057,093 | 0.231% | |
| Purpose Bitcoin ETF | BTCC:TSX | Filing | News | 22,411 | $978,016,434 | 0.107% | |
| 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF | BTCQ:TSX | Filing | News | 21,237 | $926,783,054 | 0.101% | |
| ETC Group Bitcoin ETP | BTCE:XETRA | Filing | News | 17,976 | $784,472,956 | 0.086% | |
| 3iQ The Bitcoin Fund | QBTCBV:TSX | Filing | News | 13,000 | $567,320,229 | 0.062% | |
| Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund | BITW:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 10,784 | $470,613,950 | 0.051% | |
| Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund | OTCQX:OTCMKTS | Filing | News | 7,346 | $320,579,569 | 0.035% | |
| 21Shares AG | ABTC:SWX | Filing | News | 6,142 | $268,036,988 | 0.029% | |
| VanEck Vectors Bitcoin ETN | VBTC:XETRA | Filing | News | 3,950 | $172,378,070 | 0.019% | |
| CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund | BTCX:TSX | Filing | News | 3,248 | $141,742,777 | 0.015% | |
| Osprey Bitcoin Trust | OBTC:OTC | Filing | News | 2,820 | $123,064,850 | 0.013% | |
| Ninepoint Bitcoin Trust | BITC:TSX | Filing | News | 2,736 | $119,399,088 | 0.013% | |
| Evolve Bitcoin ETF | EBIT:TSX | Filing | News | 1,663 | $72,573,349 | 0.008% | |
| Totals: | 816,379 | $35,626,793,928 | 3.888% |
Why The Father of Bitcoin Is Nowhere to Be Found
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto showed up out of the ether to establish the world’s initial cryptocurrency. Then he disappeared just as abruptly.
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Nothing discharges the creativity like a confidential hero with a secret identification. It’s been a long-lasting trope considering that the Scarlet Pimpernel saved his first aristocrat from Madame la Guillotine. From Batman to the street musician Banksy, each hero has his very own reason for putting on the mask of privacy.
This phenomenon has actually involved the globe of finance in the individual of Satoshi Nakamoto, the supposed father of Bitcoin. He appeared out of the ether in 2008 and also disappeared just as quickly 3 years later on, after establishing the world’s first cryptocurrency. On April 23, 2011, he sent out a farewell e-mail to a fellow Bitcoin programmer. “I have actually carried on to other things,” he created, guaranteeing that the future of Bitcoin was “in excellent hands.” He has not been heard from given that.
Today, Bitcoin is valued at more than $1 trillion, and also while Nakamoto’s identity may be just a matter of speculation for some, it implies much more to others: He is said to own over 1 million Bitcoins with a current value hovering someplace around $60 billion. That’s equivalent to around 5 percent of the complete variety of bitcoins presently in circulation.
Needs to the person– or individuals– behind the name Satoshi Nakamoto choose to market just a few of this heap, the transaction would entirely overthrow the cryptocurrency market. Cryptocurrency trading system Coinbase, which went public on the Nasdaq on April 14, kept in mind the possible discovery of Nakamoto’s identification (and the motion of that person’s Bitcoin holdings) as a risk consider its IPO filing with the Securities and Exchange Compensation (SEC). Coinbase even presumed regarding send out a copy of the declaring to the last well-known e-mail address for Nakamoto.
Progressively, financial solutions behemoths like BlackRock, JPMorgan as well as BNY Mellon are offering cryptocurrencies and related services to their customers, including authenticity to an asset that Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger when characterized as “in contrast to the passions of human being.”
Bitcoin revived when Nakamoto released his well-known white paper on a cryptography newsletter defining a digital money that would certainly enable safe and secure, peer-to-peer transactions without the participation of any type of intermediary, whether that be the government, financial system or a company. These deals would be tracked through a blockchain, a journal like those utilized by any type of banks, except that this journal would be dispersed throughout a whole network, with spitting images held by all participants and also noticeable to all, protected by cryptographic ways. There would certainly never ever be greater than 21 million Bitcoin.
Nakamoto developed his cryptocurrency with the goal of wresting control of money from economic elites as well as putting it in the hands of the common man. The initial Bitcoin deal happened when Nakamoto sent out 10 Bitcoins to Hal Finney, a popular developer who had downloaded and install the Bitcoin software program on its launch day. The first industrial deal can be found in 2010, when a designer called Laszlo Hanyecz got himself 2 Papa John’s pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoin. At Bitcoin’s current cost of virtually $60,000, those were some really pricey pizzas.
Bitcoin is open resource, indicating its design is public. Nobody person owns or regulates Bitcoin, and also anybody can get involved. While Satoshi remained to control Bitcoin’s growth, customers and also designers gathered together in Bitcoin forums to contribute code and also work with the task, which had actually become a joint effort. The customers running the Bitcoin software application were the utmost authority.
Several developers and developers have actually composed code for Bitcoin, yet Gavin Andresen was one of the most enthusiastic. He reached out to Nakamoto in 2010 and ended up being the founder’s right-hand man. When Nakamoto withdrew from sight, he left Bitcoin in Andresen’s hands. Today, even Andresen himself has actually expanded a lot more reclusive: He no longer functions as “core maintainer” of Bitcoin’s code; in fact, that duty might soon come to be as decentralized as the cryptocurrency itself.
Throughout the history of Bitcoin, efforts to introduce Nakamoto have proceeded unmitigated. Gossips in cryptocurrency forums have actually engaged in wild supposition: Nakamoto belongs to the Yakuza, part of a cabal of designers, a money-launderer or perhaps even a woman.
In 2014, a reporter from Newsweek determined 70-year-old Dorian Nakamoto, a soft-spoken resident of Los Angeles, as Bitcoin’s creator. While his lengthy and also prominent career in design was pointed out as evidence, Nakamoto has actually vehemently refuted any type of participation with the cryptocurrency. The day after Dorian Nakamoto launched a public statement, Satoshi appeared in an on the internet forum. He posted “I am not Dorian Nakamoto” before vanishing once more.
Australian Craig Wright declared to be Nakamoto in 2016, and also Bitcoin programmer Andresen proved the statement, stating he was “98 percent sure” that Wright was the elusive Satoshi. The cryptocurrency area had not been having it, and Wright pulled back from the case.
Suspicion also fell upon Nick Szabo, a secretive crypto expert who added substantially to the development of Bitcoin. Linguistic researchers assessed Szabo’s composing along with creating from various other believed Satoshis. The linguists claimed that there were clear-cut resemblances between Szabo’s writings and also Satoshi Nakamoto’s. The New York Times even went so far regarding pin Szabo as the shadowy Nakamoto, however Szabo strenuously denied the claims.
The upshot is that Satoshi Nakamoto continues to be confidential, a mythical creature with a Bitcoin stash of legendary percentages. He has solid incentives to continue to be confidential. Possessing a $60 billion fortune makes individual security an engaging worry. Offered Bitcoin’s potential to test sovereign fiat currencies, Nakomoto can be afraid potential lawsuits by governments– if not various other types of government assent.
Undoubtedly, efforts to discover the identification of Satoshi Nakamoto will certainly proceed. The risk he postures to the cryptocurrency market is undue and the secret bordering his identity is also compelling. In a globe where privacy is progressively difficult to pursue, Satoshi Nakamoto has succeeded past creativity in maintaining his keys.