TLDR:
- Satoshi Nakamoto holds 1.096 million BTC worth $77B, making him the largest Bitcoin holder globally.
- Coinbase controls 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply, leading all exchanges with 982,000 BTC in holdings.
- The U.S. Government holds 328,000 BTC seized from Bitfinex, Silk Road, and the LuBian Hacker address.
- Strategy holds 738,000 BTC total, making it the largest public company Bitcoin holder as of 2026.
Bitcoin ownership remains concentrated among a select group of entities as of 2026. On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence reveals that Satoshi Nakamoto holds the largest known share.
Exchanges, ETF issuers, and governments follow closely behind. Public companies like Strategy have also accumulated substantial reserves over the past few years.
The data provides a clear picture of where the world’s most valuable digital asset resides today, and who holds the most of it.
Satoshi Nakamoto Leads All Bitcoin Holders Worldwide
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, remains the single largest known holder. Arkham’s research attributes 1.096 million BTC to Satoshi, worth approximately $77 billion. This figure rests on a known mining pattern called the Patoshi Pattern.
Arkham’s data links these holdings to around 22,000 blocks that Satoshi mined in the network’s early days. The identified addresses include the only known wallets from which Satoshi ever spent BTC. No movement has been recorded from most of these wallets in years.
Among individual wallet addresses, a Binance cold wallet holds the most BTC. That single address contains nearly 250,000 BTC, worth around $17 billion. It ranks as the largest single-address Bitcoin wallet currently on record.
Exchanges and ETF Issuers Command Billions in Holdings
Coinbase is the largest exchange entity by BTC holdings, controlling around 982,000 BTC. That figure represents roughly 5% of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply. Binance follows with approximately 655,000 BTC, equal to 3.3% of supply.
BlackRock leads all ETF issuers with 775,000 BTC held under its spot Bitcoin ETF. Fidelity Custody holds 460,000 BTC, while Grayscale, Bitwise, and ARK Invest also maintain on-chain positions. Arkham first identified these ETF holdings on-chain after the products launched in the U.S. in January 2024.
Grayscale’s Bitcoin holdings are spread across more than 1,750 separate addresses. Each address holds no more than 1,000 BTC. All assets are custodied through Coinbase.
Governments Hold Bitcoin Largely Through Criminal Asset Seizures
The United States Government holds 328,000 BTC, making it the top government holder by a wide margin. These holdings come from seizures tied to the Bitfinex hack, Silk Road, and the LuBian Hacker address. The FBI manages these wallets on behalf of the federal government.
The United Kingdom holds 61,245 BTC, seized from Jian Wen and Zhimin Qian in 2018. El Salvador holds 7,500 BTC, accumulated through daily purchases and a legal tender policy. Bhutan holds 5,400 BTC, mined through its sovereign wealth fund using hydroelectric power.
Unlike seizure-based holdings, El Salvador and Bhutan acquired Bitcoin through active national strategies. El Salvador adopted it as legal tender and bought 1 BTC daily under President Bukele’s directive. Bhutan partnered with Bitdeer to expand mining operations backed by cheap hydroelectric energy.
Public and Private Companies Continue Accumulating BTC Reserves
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, holds more Bitcoin than any other public company. Its total holdings stand at 738,000 BTC, though on-chain data confirms 443,000 BTC directly. The company has been buying consistently since August 2020.
MARA, a publicly traded mining company, reports a treasury stockpile of 53,200 BTC. Metaplanet, listed in Tokyo, holds 35,100 BTC as a hedge against yen depreciation. Both companies closely mirror Strategy’s long-term accumulation approach.
Among private companies, Tether holds 96,300 BTC verified on-chain. SpaceX holds 8,300 BTC, down from a peak of 28,000 BTC in 2021. Block.one claims 164,000 BTC, though those holdings remain unverified through on-chain data.
