**Bitcoin Whales Hold Over 90% of Circulating Supply: What It Means for the Market**

Since Bitcoin's inception in 2009, a small number of wallet addresses have accumulated a significant portion of the cryptocurrency. According to Blockchain Council, over 19.71 million BTC have been mined, with only 21 million ever to be in circulation. Data from BitInfoCharts reveals that just 1.86% of wallet addresses hold more than 90% of all BTC.

Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, notes that this concentration presents both challenges and benefits. While it raises concerns about market manipulation and centralization, it also gives these "whales" substantial market influence.

Phillip Lord from Oobit points out that although whales can impact BTC prices, they can't change the Bitcoin protocol, which relies on decentralized consensus.

Jonathan Hargreaves of Elastos warns that such wealth concentration could undermine Bitcoin's foundational principles of decentralization. However, he believes the community will resist any attempts to centralize control.

In summary, while Bitcoin's wealth concentration poses potential risks, the decentralized nature of its governance remains a safeguard against total control by a few.