Who Owns The Most Bitcoin?
Satoshi Nakamoto owns the most bitcoin with an estimated 1.1 million BTC. Satoshi not only invented but also kickstarted Bitcoin, by being the first miner to create blocks of transactions. It is estimated that Satoshi mined more than 22,000 blocks starting from January 3rd, 2009, and received more than one million bitcoin in cumulative block rewards for the work.
How Many Bitcoin Does Satoshi Have?
As a result, Satoshi is estimated to have more than 1.1 million BTC, valued at approximately $47 billion in February 2024. This bitcoin is not stored in one address but spread across roughly 22,000 addresses. None of it was ever spent besides a few test transactions. Satoshi left the project in 2010 and hasn’t been heard from since.
Individual Bitcoin Whales
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss: Following their 2008 settlement with Mark Zuckerberg for $65 million worth of Facebook shares and cash, the pair started an angel investment company. A few years later they would announce they had bought approximately $11 million worth of bitcoin at an average cost basis of $10 per coin. It’s estimated that the Winklevoss twins own ~70,000 BTC.
Tim Draper: The VC titan has been interested in Bitcoin for a while; so much so that he made one initial purchase of 40,000 BTC at the Mt Gox exchange.
Unfortunately, all 40,000 coins were lost in the hack and subsequent bankruptcy. However, in 2014, Mr. Draper purchased 29,656 BTC for $18.7 million at a cost basis of approximately $632 per coin.
Michael Saylor: The founder and chairman of Microstrategy revealed in an October 2020 tweet that he personally held 17,732 BTC. It is reasonable to assume that he has since acquired more—being such a public Bitcoin Bull
Microstrategy 214,246
Blackrock 266,102
Grayscale 318,452