Satoshi Nakamoto, Institutions, and Whales: Who Holds the Most Bitcoin?

With nearly half a billion wallet addresses, Bitcoin has become a game-changer destined for longevity.

As the king of the cryptocurrency world, Bitcoin has come a long and challenging journey since its humble beginnings in 2009, with hundreds of thousands of transactions taking place every day. But do you know who the big Bitcoin holders are?

01Who are the top holders of Bitcoin?

The largest Bitcoin holders are corporate entities, including some institutions and crypto CEXs. CEXs store a large number of users' crypto assets in cold wallets. Due to the nature of crypto transactions, these addresses are constantly changing.

There are an estimated 106 million Bitcoin holders worldwide, and while 460 million addresses have been used for transactions, 288 million of these addresses do not hold any Bitcoin.

02How to identify Bitcoin holders?

Due to the flow of funds between wallets, the list of large Bitcoin holders is constantly changing. As of May 15, 2024, according to data from blockchain browsers, the number of Bitcoins held by the top ten addresses ranges from 69,370 BTC to 248,597 BTC.

The Bitcoin whitepaper suggests creating a new address for each transaction. But due to the nature of crypto transactions, they are semi-anonymous to a certain extent: if a person shares their wallet address publicly, all of their transactions can be easily traced back.

Blockchain analysis also reveals the interconnections between wallets and real-world identities. Investigators, regulators, and compliance teams use on-chain tools to detect and prevent criminal behavior.

Bitcoin.org once said: "Bitcoin is designed to allow users to settle payments with acceptable privacy, just like any other form of currency. However, Bitcoin is not anonymous and therefore does not provide the same level of privacy as cash."

03Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Wallet

The identity of Bitcoin's anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, remains a mystery, but he holds 1 million Bitcoins. Since Satoshi mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009, one of his addresses is easy to find: 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa.

The wallet currently holds approximately 99.84 bitcoins, with no record of outgoing transactions. However, Satoshi Nakamoto may have hundreds or even thousands of other independent addresses. These dormant funds add to his mystery.

04 Top Bitcoin Holders and Their Wallet Addresses in 2024

Here are the ten largest individual wallets and their owners, as determined by public data and blockchain intelligence:

1) BN (cold wallet 1) - 248597.48 BTC

Not surprisingly, the world’s largest crypto CEX manages the largest wallet, holding over 1.2% of all Bitcoin in circulation. Outflows are very rare — the most recent outflow occurred in January 2023 and involved 2,000 BTC.

Bitcoin address: 34xp4vRoCGJym3xR7yCVPFHoCNxv4Twseo

BN’s cold wallet statistics as of May 16, 2024. Source: BitInfoCharts

2) Bitfinex - 180010.07 BTC

Bitfinex is an established CEX founded in 2012. Although it has suffered several major security breaches and its history is not perfect, it ranks 10th in terms of trading volume as of May 15, 2024. The most recent outflow transaction occurred in April 2024, with an amount of 4,000 BTC.

Bitcoin address: b1qgdjqv0av3q56jvd82tkdjpy7gdp9ut8tlqmgrpmv24sq90ecnvqqjwww97

3) Robinhood - 136,295.81 BTC

Robinhood is a US-based zero-commission trading platform that offers trading in stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and options. It attracts new traders with user-friendly tools and deposit offers, but has also been criticized for promoting high-risk activities.

According to BitInfoCharts, the wallet’s balance has not seen any significant outflows since its inception in May 2023. As of now, Robinhood has not confirmed ownership of the wallet, but Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics platform, has linked it to the wallet.

Bitcoin address: bc1ql49ydapnjafl5t2cp9zqpjwe6pdgmxy98859v2

4) FBI (Bitfinex Funds) - 94643.30 BTC

The funds in the wallet were stolen from Bitfinex by a hacker couple in 2016. US authorities have recovered part of the funds (120,000 BTC).

The investigation, conducted jointly by the FBI, IRS-CI and HSI, identified the suspect based on gift card purchase records. The wallet, which is controlled by U.S. federal authorities, was created in February 2022 and only a small amount of funds flowed into transactions after the initial deposit.

Stolen Bitfinex funds consolidated into a single wallet after 23 transfers. Source: Bitcoin.com

Bitcoin address: bc1qazcm763858nkj2dj986etajv6wquslv8uxwczt

5) BN (cold wallet 2) - 82833.46 BTC

Relatively speaking, the second largest wallet of BN has experienced frequent fund outflows. The most recent fund outflow was in April 2024, with more than 7,910 BTC outflow.

Bitcoin address: 3M219KR5vEneNb47ewrPfWyb5jQ2DjxRP6

6) Anonymous Mt. Gox hacker - 79,957.26 BTC

Around 80,000 BTC were stolen from Japan’s Mt. Gox in 2011. Three years later, the CEX, which handled more than 70% of all Bitcoin buy and sell transactions, ceased operations after revelations of theft, fraud, and fund mismanagement.

The wallet’s history shows an unauthorized inflow of funds from a former Bitfinex CEO. No outflows have occurred since 2011, with only a few small deposits.

Bitcoin address: 1FeexV6bAHb8ybZjqQMjJrcCrHGW9sb6uF

Distribution of transactions traced back to the hacker's address. Source: Bitcoin.com

7) Anonymous holder - 78317.03 BTC

The address was activated on March 23, 2024, and has not seen any outbound transactions. Activity since the initial deposit has been very limited, and the owner remains unknown.

Bitcoin address: bc1q8yj0herd4r4yxszw3nkfvt53433thk0f5qst4g

8) Tether (cold wallet) - 75354.08 BTC

Arkham Intelligence confirmed that the leading stablecoin issuer received thousands of Bitcoin from Bitfinex’s hot wallet. Tether’s wallet began operating in September 2022 and only 0.0576 BTC was sent in 50 transactions.

Bitcoin address: bc1qjasf9z3h7w3jspkhtgatgpyvvzgpa2wwd2lr0eh5tx44reyn2k7sfc27a4

9) BN (cold wallet 3) - 75177.38 BTC

The third-largest address associated with BN has been dormant since March 2024, after receiving nearly $5 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin address: 3E97AjYaCq9QYnfFMtBCYiCEsN956Rvpj2

Transaction history of BN wallets as of May 16, 2024. Source: BitInfoCharts

10) FBI (Silk Road Funds) - 69370.17 BTC

Silk Road was the first modern dark web market that was shut down in 2013 and was used for drug dealing, money laundering and other illegal activities using Bitcoin. It served as an underground service for a network that allowed users to operate anonymously.

The bitcoins in the wallet did not come directly from Silk Road. A hacker broke into the marketplace and stole the bitcoins between 2012 and 2013. In 2020, he returned the bitcoins to U.S. authorities.

Bitcoin address: bc1qa5wkgaew2dkv56kfvj49j0av5nml45x9ek9hz6

05Top 5 Institutional Bitcoin Holders

1)MicroStrategy Incorporated-214400 BTC

The business intelligence provider, led by crypto advocate Michael Saylor, ranks first among businesses holding BTC. According to its first quarter 2024 financial report, its holdings reached 214,400 Bitcoins after its latest acquisition in April.

At current prices, those holdings are worth about $13.5 billion, and the company reportedly made about $6 billion in paper profits from Bitcoin. A former Internet entrepreneur, Saylor once lost $6 billion in a single day, but then made billions as Bitcoin's rally sent the company's stock soaring.

Ranking of Bitcoin holdings by companies and countries as of May 6, 2024. Source: Independent

With more than 1% of all bitcoins in existence, MicroStrategy owns more cryptocurrency than any single country. Its holdings exceed Marathon Digital Holdings by more than ten times.

MicroStrategy’s stock is widely seen as a proxy for Bitcoin for traditional investors. Its year-to-date gain of 138.03% supports its inclusion in the MSCI World Index, scheduled to take effect on May 31.

2) Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.

As the second-largest listed corporate holder, the U.S. mining company owns more than 17,631 bitcoins, valued at more than $1.5 billion, including its holdings after it sold about 600 bitcoins earlier.

Unlike MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital failed to meet its first-quarter revenue expectations and mined 34% less Bitcoin due to equipment failures, maintenance, and weather-related hurdles. The decline has left its stock down 14.01% year-to-date.

The company plans to sell more of its bitcoin holdings “to support monthly operations, manage treasury reserves, and for general corporate purposes.”

3) Tesla

Tesla, the car giant founded by Elon Musk, entered the Bitcoin market in February 2021, acquiring $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in search of diversified investment channels and the best profit value. The company sold 75% of it the following year due to concerns about low liquidity caused by the COVID-19 lockdown in China.

According to Arkham's estimates, the electric car maker owns about 11,509 bitcoins as of April 2024. The first quarter balance sheet shows that net digital assets remain unchanged since the fourth quarter of 2022. Bitcoin accounts for the vast majority of the funds.

Tesla owns very little of the memecoin, despite accepting DOGE as a form of payment for its merchandise. Its stock performance has declined recently, with a year-to-date loss of 29.64%.

4) Coinbase Global, Inc.

The US-based company is the world’s largest publicly traded CEX, holding more than 9,100 bitcoins. It has a significant presence in the cryptocurrency space, serving both retail users and institutions and custodial hundreds of thousands of bitcoins.

Similar to MicroStrategy, Coinbase has seen its share price rise since the beginning of 2024. Despite the SEC's regulatory crackdown, its stock price is up 26.44% year-to-date, benefiting from the surge in Bitcoin prices.

5) Hut 8 Corp.

The Canadian mining company is the only non-U.S. company among the top five public holders and the second-largest public mining company with about 9,100 bitcoins.

According to Benchmark’s report, these holdings provide “substantial liquidity and the ability to capture upside during periods of Bitcoin price appreciation.” They are worth approximately $592 million, or about 82% of Hut 8’s market capitalization.

Similar to Marathon Digital, the company has struggled financially this year, with its shares down 33.81% year to date.

06 Summary

Buying Bitcoin and holding it for a long time, then waiting for it to appreciate is one way to make money, but the continuous development of various assets and financial products now also provides opportunities for indirect participation, including Bitcoin ETFs (spot and futures), stocks of entities with large Bitcoin holdings, and funds investing in Bitcoin or blockchain-related companies.

It can be seen that, driven by institutions, CEXs and service agencies, Bitcoin has a complex and extensive user group, whose user portraits allow us to understand the current participation and adoption rate of Bitcoin.

The total number of Bitcoin users is not equal to the number of addresses. However, the 500 million transactions per day and 67 million wallets with a balance of at least $1 indicate active participation and growing adoption of Bitcoin.