BlackRock, MicroStrategy Top Satoshi’s BTC Holdings
With more big institutions jumping into bitcoin (BTC), something interesting has happened: bitcoin wealth is becoming more centralized than ever. In fact, for the first time in over ten years, just two organizations now control as much BTC as the cryptocurrency’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is thought to hold.
According to their latest reports, BlackRock’s popular spot BTC ETF is sitting on 573,187 BTC, and MicroStrategy (MSTR) isn’t far behind with 538,200 BTC. Adding it up, their combined 1,111,387 BTC actually exceeds the amount generally believed to be in Satoshi Nakamoto’s possession.
Arkham Intelligence, for example, estimates Satoshi’s holdings to be around 1,096,000 BTC. Other guesses tend to peak at about 1.1 million BTC.
This 1.1 million BTC figure for Satoshi comes from a 2013 analysis by Sergio Lerner, who looked at the “Patoshi Pattern” in the early days of bitcoin mining. However, it’s worth noting that historian Pete Rizzo has pointed out some potential flaws in that estimate. Some experts suggest that due to collaborative mining or other unknowns, Satoshi might actually own less than Lerner’s 1.1 million BTC.
Either way, it’s hard to find solid evidence suggesting Satoshi owns significantly more than 1.1 million BTC – unless they secretly bought or mined more after disappearing in April 2011. So, it’s pretty safe to say that BlackRock and MicroStrategy together control more Bitcoin than Satoshi’s publicly known stash.
Corporate BTC versus unencumbered BTC in self-custody
Now, here’s a crucial point to understand: the BTC held by these big companies is not the same as Satoshi’s. Satoshi’s coins are believed to be self-mined and kept in personal wallets, with no one else claiming ownership. In contrast, millions of people have a legitimate stake in the BTC held by BlackRock and MicroStrategy.
For instance, BlackRock holds its 573,187 spot BTC on behalf of all the people who have invested in its IBIT ETF around the globe. These bitcoins aren’t really BlackRock’s assets in the traditional sense; they’re the underlying assets that give value to its exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Read more: MicroStrategy bought BTC at nearly the worst possible price last week
MicroStrategy’s situation is similar, but with a slight twist. They hold their 538,200 BTC as a company with debts and obligations. The company, owned by countless shareholders, has to use its assets to pay back loans, give dividends to certain shareholders, pay employee salaries, cover taxes, professional fees, and a whole range of other expenses.
Millions of MSTR shareholders own a piece of the company, and that includes a share of its Bitcoin holdings. So, it wouldn’t be accurate to say that those 538,200 coins are “owned” by any single individual either.
More BTC than Satoshi, technically speaking
In other words, when we look at it technically, BlackRock and MicroStrategy collectively hold more BTC than what is linked to Satoshi Nakamoto’s known wallets. However, it’s important to remember that millions of individuals have various claims and interests in that combined total of 1,111,387 BTC.
Ultimately, despite the increasing trend of institutions holding large amounts of digital assets over the past decade, Satoshi Nakamoto still likely remains the wealthiest single person when it comes to crypto.
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