More Bitcoin Addresses Now Hold At Least 10 BTC

Data from CoinMetrics shows that the number of Bitcoin addresses that hold at least 10 BTC has reached an all-time high. This may make some people believe that a larger number of people holding BTC wealth worth over $105,000. However, the reality could be far from this notion.

The number of BTC addresses holding a fortune goes up

According to Coin Metrics data, about 157,000 addresses held over $100,000 in BTC in their accounts on September 1. This is the highest number of addresses holding at least 10 BTC in history. About 0.5% of Bitcoin addresses hold anywhere between 10 to 100 Bitcoins. There are at least 614,500 addresses that hold 1 to 10 Bitcoins.

Does this mean there is more decentralization in the Bitcoin wealth held by people? No. We have to understand that several big Bitcoin wallets may not even belong to one person. Instead, they could be of wallets held by digital currency exchanges. This means that several large Bitcoin addresses could be holding Bitcoins owned by thousands of people, if not more.

On the other hand, smaller wallets don’t necessarily belong to different people. Owing to the nature of the Bitcoin blockchain, one owner can have any number of Bitcoin wallets holding a different amount of Bitcoin. There is no way of knowing the identity of a person who owns these wallets because of which we can never make an accurate prediction of how many people are accumulating their wealth in Bitcoin.

Why is the number important?

While the Coin Metrics figure doesn’t reflect the number of people holding Bitcoin, it does reflect that people are more inclined to accumulate Bitcoin. IntoTheBlock, a blockchain analytics firm said recently that a majority of high-net-worth Bitcoin holders are enjoying a profit. About 83% of these addresses have bought Bitcoin at a far lower price than its current worth. The selling power of the coin is less which means that the market dominance of these addresses will continue to rise.

However, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency which investors are accumulating. The number of Ethereum addresses holding a higher amount of the currency has also gone up. Interestingly, Ethereum is the second-largest currency in the world but its price is only a fraction of Bitcoin. Addresses holding 0.0108 ETH has hit record highs recently but that isn’t too high an amount and reflects barely $1.86.