Cryptocurrency exchange. A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies.
The richest players (the whales) own the majority. About 1.86% of all Bitcoin addresses control 90% of the supply. Major exchanges, early adopters and institutional custodians dominate the ledger. Just four addresses holding between 100,000 and 1 million BTC collectively own 14% of all coins.
Is Bitcoin a medium of exchange or speculative assets?
We find that Bitcoin is mainly used as a speculative investment despite or due to its high volatility and large returns. Interestingly, Bitcoin returns are essentially uncorrelated with all major asset classes in normal and extreme times which offers large diversification benefits.
5 years ago: If you invested $1,000 in Bitcoin in 2020, your investment would be worth $9,689. 10 years ago: If you invested $1,000 in Bitcoin in 2015, your investment would be worth $496,927. 15 years ago: If you invested $1,000 in Bitcoin in 2010, your investment would be worth about $1.62 billion.
Bitcoin Q&A: Medium of Exchange, Unit of Account, and Reserve Currency
Who owns the most Bitcoin?
Who Owns the Most Bitcoins? Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, is believed to own the most bitcoins, with estimates suggesting over 1 million BTC mined in the early days of the network. So technically, Satoshi is the one who has the most bitcoin.
For most investors, a 1% allocation may be optimal. But to me, that seems a bit low. As BlackRock suggests, ramping that up to at least 2% makes sense. But before you go higher than that, make sure you understand exactly what Bitcoin is doing to your portfolio, both in terms of risk and reward.
The Bottom Line. Bitcoin prices are volatile for many of the same reasons other investments are—supply and demand and how investors react to hype, news, and regulatory actions. The main difference between bitcoin and other investment prices is the magnitude in which its price changes.
This is in line with his May 2020 tweet in which he said he “only own[ed] 0.25 Bitcoins” (Musk, 2020)—which, of course, no longer had to be valid at the time of the talk.
The Taihuttus — who sold everything they owned in 2017, from their house to their shoes, to go all in on bitcoin when it was trading around $900 — have long lived on the outer edge of crypto ideology. They travel full time with their three daughters and remain entirely unbanked.
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.
Nakamoto's true identity is unknown, although various people have been posited as the person or group of people behind his name. His name is Japanese, and his persona suggests a man living in Japan, but many have speculated that he is a software and cryptography expert from the United States or Europe.
How much is Bitcoin? Limited Supply: Bitcoin's maximum supply is 21 million coins, and as of August 2025, more than 19 million have been mined. Remaining bitcoins: There are approximately 1.5 million bitcoins left to be mined. Impact on Value: Knowing this matters because it affects Bitcoin's value and future price.
A $1,000 Bitcoin purchase on Aug. 20, 2020, would be worth roughly $9,784 five years later. The bull run included a roughly 75% drawdown by the end of 2022 -- followed by another strong rebound. Bitcoin may trend higher from here, but risks remain, and there may be sharp price corrections.
Investing $100 in Bitcoin alone is not likely to make you wealthy. The price of Bitcoin is highly volatile and can fluctuate significantly in short periods. While it is possible to see significant returns in a short time, it is also possible to lose a substantial amount just as quickly.
Based on your prediction that Bitcoin will change at a rate of 5% every year, the price of Bitcoin would be $118,047.30 in 2026, $143,487.23 in 2030, $183,130.11 in 2035, and $233,725.58 in 2040. Scroll down to view the complete table showing the predicted price of Bitcoin and the projected ROI for each year.
Most top Bitcoin billionaires became rich by creating products and services to grow the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This overall price increase has also created millions for people who bought and held their bitcoins.
The U.S. is the largest government holder of bitcoin (BTC), followed closely by China. Government holdings of BTC are largely derived from law enforcement seizures or strategic mining initiatives.
The total supply held by participants outside of these two groups is around 15.16 million bitcoin or 78.8% of all outstanding supply. At approximately 32.9 million active entities, this would mean the average non-exchange, non-miner entity owns 0.46 BTC, or around $12,420.
Almost 16,000 Bitcoin holders have joined the millionaires' club between 20 January and 20 July 2025, according to a new report from Finbold. The 15,841 new additions bring the total number of Bitcoin millionaires to 192,205, an increase of 9% in just six months and an average of 88 new millionaires every day.
Bitcoin has been a business interest for many years, but following the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, businesses accounted for the most bitcoin held. Types of businesses that hold bitcoin are brokerages, exchanges, business intelligence and analysis companies, and venture capital groups.
