Largest Bitcoin Holders
While we cannot provide a definitive list of the largest individuals or entities that own Bitcoin, we can rank some of the major Bitcoin holders:
1. Unknown entities:
Satoshi Nakamoto: The creator of Bitcoin is believed to own a large amount, but his identity remains a mystery. It is estimated that he owns approximately 1.1 million Bitcoin.
Early Miners: Many of the early Bitcoin miners amassed great wealth, but their identities are often unknown.
2. Public companies:
MicroStrategy: Known for its strategy of buying Bitcoin heavily.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA): Owns a significant amount of Bitcoin as part of its investment portfolio.
Other listed companies: Many other companies own Bitcoin, especially in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors.
3. Cryptocurrency exchanges:
Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, etc.: Exchanges hold a large amount of Bitcoin on behalf of their customers.
4. Institutional investors:
Grayscale: Runs the world's largest bitcoin investment fund.
BlackRock, Fidelity and other financial giants have shown increasing interest in Bitcoin.
5. The Governor:
Storage Wallets: Many individuals and institutions store Bitcoin in offline wallets, making it difficult to track their holdings.
Estimates of the amount of Bitcoin owned by its largest holders:
1. Satoshi Nakamoto - 1.1 million bitcoins (mysterious founder of Bitcoin).
2. Binance - 550,133 BTC (Binance trading platform).
3. BlackRock – 347,767 BTC (BlackRock via IBIT Fund).
4. Grayscale – 263,801 BTC (Grayscale Inc., which manages the Bitcoin investment fund).
5. MicroStrategy - 226,500 BTC (MicroStrategy, the company that manages Bitcoin investments).
6. Bitfinex - 221,315 BTC (Bitfinex trading platform).
7. US Government - 213,246 Bitcoin (owns Bitcoin through forfeitures).
8. Chinese government - 190,000 Bitcoin (owns Bitcoin through confiscations).
9. Fidelity – 176,626 BTC (Fidelity via FBTC Fund).
10. Block One – 164,000 Bitcoin (the company that developed EOS.IO).