When it comes to virtual currencies, there is no doubt that Bitcoin is the king. The original cryptocurrency has been around for over a decade and has spawned a whole industry around it.
With a market capitalization of over $100 billion, Bitcoin is by far the most valuable cryptocurrency in existence. But who actually owns all of this Bitcoin? The answer may surprise you.
The largest holder of Bitcoin is actually an entity known as Bitwise Asset Management. Bitwise is a cryptocurrency asset management firm that was founded in 2017.
The firm is headquartered in San Francisco and currently manages over $600 million in assets. In 2019, Bitwise launched the world’s first cryptocurrency index fund, which tracks the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
So how did Bitwise come to own such a large amount of Bitcoin? The answer lies in the fact that the firm is one of the largest investors in Bitcoin mining operations. Bitwise has invested millions of dollars into several large-scale mining operations located around the world.
This gives Bitwise a large amount of “hash power,” which is used to verify transactions on the Bitcoin network. In return for providing this hash power, Bitwise receives newly minted Bitcoin as a reward.
While Bitwise may be the largest holder of Bitcoin, they are certainly not the only one. There are many other individuals and entities that own large amounts of Bitcoin, including early investors and miners who have been holding onto their Bitcoin for years.
These individuals and entities are often referred to as “whales.”.
While we don’t know exactly how much Bitcoin is owned by whales, we do know that they control a significant amount of the total supply. Estimates put the amount of Bitcoin controlled by whales at anywhere from 1 million to 5 million BTC, which represent between 5% and 25% of the total supply.
That means that if all of these whales decided to sell their Bitcoin all at once, it could have a major impact on the price.
So does BitWise own enough Bitcoin to single-handedly manipulate the market? It’s unlikely. While the firm does have a large amount of hash power and does control a significant amount of BTC, they would need to coordinate with other whales in order to have any real impact on price.
Additionally, it’s important to remember that BitWise is just one player in a much larger market. There are thousands of other companies and individuals involved inthe cryptocurrency space, all with their own agendas.
In conclusion, while BitWise may be the largest holder of Bitcoin, they are not powerful enough to manipulate the market on their own. However, their large holdings do give them significant influence over price movements in the market.