The person believed to have the most bitcoin in the world is Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s anonymous creator. Address analysis attributes an estimated 1.096 million BTC to Nakamoto. After Nakamoto, the largest holders are institutions, not individuals. As of late October 2025, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) held about 805,534 BTC, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) about 640,250 BTC, Binance about 612,450 BTC in its reserves, and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) about 172,108 BTC. Among governments, the United States held the most, about 326,588 BTC.
These are dated snapshots. Fund, company and exchange balances change as investors buy and sell, so each figure below carries the date it was reported. Dollar values move with the Bitcoin price, so they are left out.
The Biggest Bitcoin Holders Ranked
Ranked by reported holdings around the end of October 2025:
- Satoshi Nakamoto: about 1,096,000 BTC (estimate based on attributed addresses)
- BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT): 805,534.48 BTC (Oct. 29, 2025)
- Strategy: about 640,250 BTC (October 2025)
- Binance: 612,449.518 BTC in reserves (Oct. 30, 2025)
- U.S. government: about 326,588 BTC (October 2025)
- Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC): 172,107.87 BTC (Oct. 29, 2025)
Satoshi Nakamoto: The Largest Single Holder
Nakamoto is not an investor in the usual sense. The bitcoin attributed to Nakamoto comes from mining in the network’s first period, when very few people were running the software and each block paid a 50 BTC reward. Researchers have traced patterns in early blocks and addresses and concluded that Nakamoto controls roughly 1.096 million BTC. That figure is an estimate built from on-chain analysis. It is not a disclosed balance, and nobody has proven ownership of those coins by moving or signing with them publicly.
Measured against Bitcoin’s fixed cap of 21 million coins, 1.096 million BTC is about 5.2% of all the bitcoin that can ever exist. The share of coins actually in circulation is higher because not all 21 million have been mined yet.
The best-known Nakamoto address is the Genesis address, which holds the reward from the first block ever mined, 50 BTC. The coins in that first block cannot be spent under the protocol’s rules. The address has also become a kind of monument: since Nakamoto disappeared, enthusiasts have sent it more than 54 BTC in donations.
BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
In January 2024 the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded products. A spot bitcoin ETF holds actual bitcoin rather than futures contracts, and investors buy its shares through an ordinary brokerage account. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust was one of the 11, and it built up its holdings quickly after launch. As of Oct. 29, 2025, it held 805,534.48 BTC, the largest holding of any entity other than the coins attributed to Nakamoto.
The fund holds the bitcoin, but its shareholders own the economic exposure. When investors buy more shares than they sell, the fund’s bitcoin holdings tend to rise. When redemptions outweigh purchases, the holdings tend to fall. IBIT’s position at the top of the institutional list reflects demand from the investors who buy its shares. BlackRock is not buying bitcoin for its own balance sheet.
Strategy (Formerly MicroStrategy)
Strategy, the business intelligence company formerly called MicroStrategy, is the largest corporate holder of bitcoin. Co-founder Michael Saylor is among the most outspoken bitcoin advocates in finance. He argues publicly that bitcoin is the next stage in the evolution of money and promotes it through social media, conferences and interviews. Under that strategy the company has kept adding to its position, and in October 2025 it reported holding about 640,250 BTC.
Strategy differs from an ETF in one key way. The bitcoin sits on the company’s own balance sheet, so the company itself is the owner. Its shareholders hold equity in a business whose value is closely tied to that treasury, but they do not have a claim on specific coins.
Binance
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, publishes proof-of-reserves reports that compare the bitcoin it holds with what its customers have deposited. On Oct. 30, 2025, it reported 612,449.518 BTC, equal to 103.50% of customer bitcoin balances. That works out to a reserve ratio above 1:1.
Most of that bitcoin belongs to customers. The exchange holds it so that users can withdraw their balances, and reserves above 100% mean the exchange reported more bitcoin than its recorded customer liabilities on that date. A proof-of-reserves report is a snapshot of a single date. It is not a continuous guarantee. Exchange reserves draw attention because of failures such as the FTX collapse, where customer assets were not fully backed.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC)
Grayscale was one of the first firms to offer an investment product tied to bitcoin. Its Bitcoin Trust gave investors exposure to bitcoin’s price through a security for years before spot ETFs existed. GBTC operated as a trust until January 2024, when it converted to an ETF as part of the same SEC approvals that launched IBIT and the other spot funds.
After the approvals, GBTC saw heavy outflows as investors moved money into the newly launched competitors. That is why it now sits well below IBIT despite its head start. As of Oct. 29, 2025, it held 172,107.87 BTC, which still places it among the largest bitcoin holders in the brokerage and fund category.
Which Government Owns the Most Bitcoin?
The United States government holds more bitcoin than any other government, about 326,588 BTC as of October 2025 according to public trackers of government holdings. The U.S. did not buy most of these coins on the open market. They came largely from law enforcement seizures in criminal cases, the Silk Road dark web marketplace being the best known.
Seized bitcoin does not always stay in government hands. In 2014 the U.S. Marshals Service auctioned bitcoin seized in the Silk Road case, and other seized coins have been sold or returned to victims after court proceedings. A government’s balance can therefore change because of legal outcomes rather than any investment decision.
Which Wealthy Investors Own Bitcoin?
Among individuals other than Nakamoto, some of the best-known bitcoin holders are:
- Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss: early bitcoin buyers who went on to found the Gemini exchange.
- Michael Saylor: Strategy’s co-founder, who has also spoken about owning bitcoin personally, separate from the company’s treasury.
- Tim Draper: the venture capitalist who bought the bitcoin sold at the 2014 U.S. Marshals auction of Silk Road coins.
Private individuals do not have to disclose their crypto holdings, so balances for wealthy investors are generally self-reported or estimated. Many other wealthy people likely hold bitcoin without announcing it. The same applies to the “famous traders” whose wallets people try to follow. Bitcoin addresses are pseudonymous. A wallet is linked to a name only when the owner discloses it or an analytics firm attributes it, and attributions can be wrong.
From Early Individuals to Institutions
In Bitcoin’s first years the largest holders were individuals: the miners and early adopters who acquired coins when they were cheap or free to mine. That has changed. Exchanges, brokerages and ETF issuers, public companies such as Strategy, and venture capital groups like Digital Currency Group, which owns Grayscale, now account for the largest reported positions. The January 2024 spot ETF approvals sped up the shift by giving ordinary brokerage customers a simple way to hold bitcoin through a fund.
This shift raises a difference between who holds bitcoin and who owns it. Three kinds of holder appear on the list:
- Direct owners (Nakamoto, Strategy, the U.S. government, individual investors) control coins on their own behalf.
- Funds (IBIT, GBTC) hold coins for shareholders, who own the economic exposure but not the coins themselves.
- Exchanges (Binance) hold coins mostly for customers, who have a claim on the exchange for their balances.
A single large wallet on a blockchain explorer can therefore represent millions of people. An exchange’s cold storage address looks like one enormous holder, yet it may be pooling deposits from a large customer base. A single owner can also spread coins across thousands of addresses. Counting addresses is not the same as counting owners, which is why rankings depend on disclosures, fund reports and analytics firms rather than on raw blockchain data.
FAQ
How much is 1.1 million bitcoin worth in US dollars?
Multiply 1.1 million by the current price of one bitcoin. For example, at a hypothetical price of $50,000 per BTC, 1.1 million BTC would be worth $55 billion. At $100,000 it would be $110 billion. Because the price moves constantly, any dollar figure for Nakamoto's estimated holdings or for an institution's balance is valid only at the moment it is calculated.
