Who owns All The
Bitcoin?
Discover the companies, funds, governments, and individuals that are buying and holding Bitcoin.
Sponsored By
.png)
Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust is a public Bitcoin fund built for investors who want Bitcoin exposure in the form of a security, without the challenges of buying, and storing BTC directly.
Accredited investors give Grayscale cash to buy Bitcoin with (or give Bitcoin directly) in exchange for Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust shares. These shares are backed by a set amount of Bitcoin, and their underlying value tracks the performance of Bitcoin less a 2% annual fee.
Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust is publicly traded under the ticker GBTC.
Grayscale's Digital Large Cap fund is a public digital asset fund built for investors who want digital asset exposure in the form of a security, without the challenges of buying and storing digital assets directly.
The Digital Large Cap fund is composed of 5 assets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin) weighted by market cap, and re-balances quarterly. Fund shares are backed by a set amount of each digital asset, and their underlying value tracks the market-cap weighted performance of the five assets less a 3% annual fee.
Grayscale's Digital Large Cap fund is publicly traded under the ticker GDLC.
Block.one is a software firm specializing in high-performance blockchain technologies. From June 2017 to June 2018, they raised $4 billion of Ether in an ICO to fund development of their EOSIO network.
A March 19, 2019 shareholder email sent by Block.One CEO Brendan Blumer (obtained by Bloomberg), revealed that the company holds as much as 140,000 BTC in their corporate treasury.
Block.One is a private company, and has not made any public statements about their Bitcoin holdings.
Wrapped BTC (WBTC) is a joint initiative by BitGo, Kyber Network, Ren (formerly Republic Protocol), and other partners, to bring Bitcoin’s liquidity to Ethereum. WBTC is backed 1:1 with Bitcoin deposits held custodied by BitGo, and trades as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum.
WBTC was first announced on October 26, 2018, and has grown to become one of the world's largest pools of Bitcoin deposits.
MicroStrategy is a technology company that builds business intelligence (BI) software, mobile software, and cloud-based services. In August, MicroStrategy announced a $250 million BTC purchase (followed by another $175 million purchase) to make Bitcoin the company's primary treasury reserve asset.
Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy's CEO, said the following about his firm's BTC investment:
"This investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash.
Since its inception over a decade ago, Bitcoin has emerged as a significant addition to the global financial system, with characteristics that are useful to both individuals and institutions.
MicroStrategy has recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate investment asset that can be superior to cash and accordingly has made Bitcoin the principal holding in its treasury reserve strategy."
Various departments of the United States Government have held, and/or currently hold Bitcoin, primarily acquiring it through asset forfeitures in legal cases.
The first seizure of Bitcoin by the US government occurred on June 26, 2013, when the DEA seized 11.02 BTC in South Carolina from a Silk Road drug dealer.
Shortly after, in October 2013, 173,991 BTC were seized in connection with the arrest of Ross Ulbricht and the Silk Road case.
Through 2014 and 2015, government officials held a number of public auctions to trade all the Silk Road Bitcoins for cash.
Government agencies continue to acquire Bitcoin through various federal criminal, civil and administrative cases.
On January 22, 2018, 3,813 BTC were sold at auction, and on February 18, 2020, 4,041.58 BTC were sold at auction.
69,370 BTC was seized on November 3, 2020, related to Silk Road.
The current Bitcoin holdings of the US Government should be viewed as conservative, it's likely that some past seizures of Bitcoin are missing.
Tim Draper is an American venture capitalist and founding partner of VC firms Draper Associates and DFJ.
In July 2014, the United States Marshal Service auctioned off 29,656 BTC seized from Silk Road, and it was later revealed that Tim Draper won the auction, paying an average of $632 per Bitcoin.
In a December 2017 interview with CNBC, Draper confirmed he is still holding all his Bitcoin, but has made no further public statements about his Bitcoin holdings since then.
The Tezos Foundation is a Swiss non-profit designed to promote the Tezos protocol through grants and other capital deployment.
Bitcoin is the Tezos Foundation's largest treasury reserve asset, valued at 37% of all assets in Q2 2020.
Michael J. Saylor is the co-founder and CEO of MicroStrategy, a publicly traded software company he started in 1989.
In October 2020 Michael Saylor tweeted that he owns 17,732 BTC, purchased for an average price of $9,882 per Bitcoin.
This purchase likely occurred in early 2020, as Saylor said his Bitcoins were purchased before he advised MicroStrategy to consider a Bitcoin position.
Galaxy Digital is a diversified merchant bank dedicated to the digital assets and blockchain technology industry. It currently operates four distinct business lines, which include: Trading, Asset Management, Principal Investing, and Investment Banking.
Galaxy Digital actively manages its digital asset portfolio, which includes their Bitcoin holdings. They trade digital assets in active markets with the intent to resell in the near future, generating a profit from the fluctuations in prices or margins.
3iQ is a Canadian investment fund manager that offers investors exposure to digital assets in the form of a security, without the challenges of buying, and storing digital assets directly.
3iQ's largest fund, 'The Bitcoin Fund', is publicly traded, and the underlying value of each share tracks the performance of Bitcoin less a 1.95% annual fee.
The Bitcoin Fund trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under tickers QBTC and QBTC.U.
ETC Group is a European investment firm that operates a publicly traded Bitcoin fund. The underlying value of each share tracks the performance of Bitcoin less a 2% annual fee.
ETC Group's fund is backed by bitcoin and trades on Deutsche Börse XETRA under the ticker BTCE.
Stone Ridge Holdings is an asset management firm based in New York managing a portfolio of over $10 billion.
On October 13th, as part of a fundraising announcement for Stone Ridge subsidiary NYDIG, Stone Ridge Holdings revealed a purchase of "more than 10,000 BTC" as part of their treasury reserve strategy. The purchase was executed by and is custodied at NYDIG.
Stone Ridge Holdings is a private company, and is not required to share any updates or changes to their BTC holdings.
Square is an American financial services and mobile payment company led by CEO Jack Dorsey, a long-time Bitcoin advocate.
In 2018, Square launched a Bitcoin buying feature within their Cash App product, and in 2020 they first added Bitcoin to their company balance sheet as a treasury reserve asset.
Below is an excerpt from Square's Bitcoin Investment Whitepaper, explaining why Square bought Bitcoin:
"Given the rapid evolution of cryptocurrency and unprecedented uncertainty from a macroeconomic and currency regime perspective, we believe now is the right time for us to expand our largely USD-denominated balance sheet and make a meaningful investment in bitcoin.
We view bitcoin as an instrument of global economic empowerment; it is a way for individuals around the world to participate in a global monetary system and secure their own financial future. This investment is an important step in furthering our mission."
Hut 8 Mining is a publicly traded Bitcoin mining and blockchain infrastructure company based in Toronto, Canada.
They currently run their Bitcoin mining operations out of Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Drumheller, Alberta.
Hut 8 Mining trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under ticker HUT.
Riot Blockchain is a publicly-traded company specializing in Bitcoin mining. Riot runs a Bitcoin mining operation in Wassena, NY, and has an equity stake in a portfolio of blockchain-related companies.
On January 22, 2018, Riot Blockchain won a block of 500 BTC auctioned off by the USMS. Since then, Riot has continued to hold Bitcoin on their balance sheet, which is primarily acquired from their mining operations.
The Ontario Government primarily acquires Bitcoin through asset forfeitures in legal cases.
Their largest seizure of Bitcoin occurred in 2015, when Toronto Police seized 288 BTC. On April 3, 2019, it was ruled that 281.41 BTC of the 288 BTC must be forfeited to the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.
The Ontario Government has not made a public statement about changes in their Bitcoin holdings since then.
Elon Musk is the founder and CEOof SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder of OpenAI.
In November 2017, Elon tweeted "A friend sent me part of a BTC a few years, but I don’t know where it is".
In 2018 and 2019, Elon confirmed that his friend sent him 0.25 BTC, and he owns no other cryptocurrencies.