Bitcoin Celebrates 15th Anniversary: How Many Millionaires Has It Created?
Date: 2024-01-04 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: IN WORLD
The Bitcoin Millionaires' Surge
Since the beginning of 2023, the number of individuals who have amassed substantial wealth through Bitcoin has nearly tripled. This conclusion stems from the increasing number of crypto wallets with a balance exceeding $1 million. However, determining the precise number of Bitcoin millionaires remains practically impossible, as one person or organization can control numerous BTC addresses.
Distribution of Bitcoin Wealth
Presently, Bitcoin distribution across addresses appears as follows:
- Addresses holding over 100,000 BTC are limited to just four, collectively owning 686,000 coins valued at $29.5 billion.
- The largest share of Bitcoin holdings falls within the range of 1,000 to 10,000 coins, accounting for 23.9% of the total.
It is foreseeable that the number of BTC investors will continue to rise shortly. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to approve applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the near future, potentially attracting fresh capital into the industry.
Bitcoin's 15-Year Journey
On January 3, 2009, Bitcoin's genesis block was mined, marking the cryptocurrency's 15-year anniversary. Since then, BTC's market capitalization has grown from zero to a staggering $841 billion. In the past year alone, Bitcoin's value increased by approximately 160%.
Creating Bitcoin Millionaires
According to Glassnode analytics, the influx of funds into the industry has led to the creation of more than 91,000 dollar millionaires who built their wealth through Bitcoin.
A Future with Fewer Barriers
It's worth noting that the current number of crypto millionaires falls short of the historical peak reached in November 2021 when BTC soared to its all-time high of $69,000. Realistically, this figure only reflects the number of wallets with balances exceeding a million dollars. Large crypto holdings are best split across multiple wallets, including so-called cold storage, a practice that can be followed by a single millionaire.
According to Cointelegraph sources, in the future, a significantly smaller sum will be required to join the "exclusive club." As Bitcoin's maximum supply is capped at 21 million coins, with a significant portion of them forever inaccessible, achieving financial goals in the future may require less money than today's equivalent of a million dollars.
