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The price of bitcoin has stayed largely above the $100,000 mark for more than two months after a dip earlier this year, boosting the value of the almost 1 million blockchain wallet addresses that hold at least one whole bitcoin.
Key Takeaways
- There are about 20 million bitcoins in circulation, with more being mined every day.
- Blockchain data shows that there are just under 1 million wallet addresses that hold one full bitcoin.
- Many large holders, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, hold their bitcoin across multiple wallets, which puts the estimate for individual owners of at least one bitcoin closer to 800,000.
How Many Bitcoin Are There, And Who Owns Them?
There are almost 20 million bitcoin (BTCUSD) in circulation. While that number has been rising consistently since the cryptocurrency first appeared, it is growing much more slowly than previously due to “halving,” the process that means the reward for successfully mining bitcoin has shrunk every four years or so and will continue to do so until all 21 million possible bitcoin are mined.
According to publicly available blockchain data, there are about 983,000 individual wallets that hold at least one whole bitcoin. That’s compared with more than 54.6 million wallet addresses that own fractions of the cryptocurrency, ranging from 0.00001 of a bitcoin (worth about $1.14 at recent prices) to just under a whole one.
However, some companies and other large-scale holders, including cryptocurrency exchanges and so-called bitcoin treasuries, have their bitcoin in several wallets, so the estimate for the number of individuals that own a full bitcoin is lower, around 800,000 to 850,000. The largest known corporate holder of bitcoin is Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy), a software provider that has become a significant bitcoin treasury over the last five years, holding 628,791 bitcoin as of its second-quarter earnings report last week.
Blockchain data shows that the largest amount of bitcoin in a single wallet is 248,598 bitcoin in a wallet controlled by Binance, the crypto exchange.
How Expensive is Bitcoin Now?
The price of one bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time briefly in December 2024 and again a month later, and has stayed mostly above that level since May, setting a record high of just over $123,000 on July 14.
The cryptocurrency has traded between $114,000 and $119,000 over the last week, putting the asset’s market capitalization at around $2.3 trillion. The recent price puts the value of the 628,791 bitcoin held by Strategy (MSTR) at about $72 billion.
Fast Fact
Where Is Bitcoin Headed?
Bitcoin’s price has surged as the asset has continued to be adopted as a more mainstream form of currency, and the second Trump administration has been far more friendly to the crypto industry. Experts have told Investopedia that the second half of this year will be pivotal for bitcoin adoption as a reserve asset as more firms are investing in crypto.
The Bottom Line
With bitcoin trading above $100,000, owning a whole bitcoin has become an exclusive club of fewer than 1 million wallet addresses worldwide. While the exact number of individual bitcoin holders is estimated to be closer to 800,000 because of institutional wallets being spread across multiple addresses, that number is unlikely to grow significantly as companies like Strategy and other emerging bitcoin treasury firms continue to buy up the digital asset.
