Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a form of electronic cash. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.
Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin is unique in that there are a finite number of them: 21 million.
Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services.
As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment.
The identity of the person or persons who created Bitcoin is unknown. Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the unknown person or people who designed the original Bitcoin protocol in 2009 and released the software that implements it in 2010.
Nakamoto’s identity remains unknown.
In 2014, researchers at the University of Kentucky found “robust evidence that computer programming enthusiasts and illegal activity drive interest in bitcoin, and find limited or no support for political and investment motives”. In November 2013, the University of Nicosia announced that it would be accepting bitcoin as payment for tuition fees, with the university’s chief financial officer calling it the “gold of tomorrow”.
NOTE: This warning note is to inform you that Bitcoin holders can be difficult to identify and track as the identities of these individuals are not publicly known. It is also possible that a single holder may be controlling multiple addresses. Additionally, it is important to note that there are numerous ways in which malicious actors may be attempting to manipulate the market by using large amounts of Bitcoin, such as through wash trading or spoofing. As a result, it is important to be cautious when researching who the biggest Bitcoin holders may be and to ensure that any information you use is from a reliable source.
During November 2013, the China-based bitcoin exchange BTC China overtook the Japan-based Mt. Gox and the Europe-based Bitstamp to become the largest bitcoin trading exchange by trade volume.
As of February 2018, the leading wallet providers on Bitcoin Core (BTC) were Armory, Bitcoin Core (BTC) Wallet (formerly Bitcoin-Qt), Blockchain.info, Electrum, GreenAddress, MultiBit and Mycelium.
Popularity has grown exponentially since then with major providers such as Coinbase, Exodus, GreenAddress, Mycelium, Trezor and Xapo now serving millions of customers worldwide.
According to Coin Metrics research firm estimates that “about 4 million BTC have been permanently lost” which they attribute to “accidental loss or theft”, meaning that “the actual number of active BTC users is likely closer to 18 million”. Their research also estimates that “54% of all bitcoins mined have already been lost forever”, with only around 20% of all bitcoins in circulation currently being held as investments by individuals or entities.
In September 2019 Business Insider reported that “as many as 3 million BTC may be lost forever”, attributing this estimate to Chainalysis cryptocurrency intelligence firm which said that “between 2.78 million and 3.
79 million BTC will never be used again because they’re held in wallets that have been inactive for at least five years”. Chainalysis also estimated that “19% of all existing bitcoins are permanently lost” due to people losing access to their wallets (through death or forgetting their password).
Who are the biggest Bitcoin holders? The answer is still largely unknown due to the pseudo-anonymous nature of Bitcoin but we can make some educated guesses based on available data. The most likely candidates are early investors/miners who have had their bitcoins for several years now and have no intention of selling them anytime soon.
Other large holders include cryptocurrency exchanges (who hold customers’ bitcoins for safekeeping) and institutional investors who see Bitcoin as a long-term investment opportunity.
4 Related Question Answers Found
As the price of Bitcoin has surged over the past year, more and more people are becoming interested in the crypto currency. While there are many different ways to acquire Bitcoin, one of the most popular methods is through mining. Mining is the process of verifying transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain and adding them to the public ledger.
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin is unique in that there are a finite number of them: 21 million.
The answer to who owns most Bitcoin in the world is not as straightforward as you might think. While there are a few known entities that hold large amounts of Bitcoin, it’s mostly held in smaller amounts by a large number of people all over the world. The largest known holder of Bitcoin is the online exchange Coinbase, which holds approximately 4% of all Bitcoins in existence.
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
