Despite being one of the oldest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin continues to be one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market. While it is known for its volatility, its market cap has nevertheless risen steadily to be $1.15 trillion. But, who owns the most bitcoin? What gives bitcoin its value? And, really, who has the most bitcoin? We will cover each of these questions and more, below. 

Who Owns the Most Bitcoin? 

In order to understand who owns the most bitcoin, it is important to know that there is a limit of nearly 21 million bitcoin that can be introduced to the market. Moreover, there are limits on how much bitcoin can be created each day, which means that any remaining bitcoin will be mined progressively more slowly from now until the year 2140. 

So, who owns the most bitcoin in the world? Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin — who was the first miner of the currency — is believed to own 1,000,000 bitcoin which currently has a value of more than $4,500,000,000. 

But there are a number of others, also, who own the most bitcoin. As of today, there are just three separate Bitcoin addresses that hold more than 100,000 bitcoin. There are an additional 83 owners who hold anywhere from 10,000 - 100,000 bitcoin. The 87 wealthiest addresses hold a little over 14% of all the bitcoin in circulation right now.

How is the Value of Bitcoin Determined? 

While Bitcoin is obviously popular, what gives it so much value compared to other assets? Well, bitcoin is a form of digital currency that is an alternative to fiat money, which is issued by the government. Bitcoin is operated by a decentralized authority on a decentralized network using blockchain technology, unlike fiat money, which is controlled by central banks. But, even though bitcoin isn’t widely used in the economy (yet), it gets its value from a multiple of different factors. 

First, bitcoin is limited in quantity, like precious metals such as gold, silver, or platinum. As such, this level of scarcity makes it possible for the value and market price of bitcoin to increase by a considerable amount. Bitcoin is also portable, durable, resistant to counterfeit, and acceptable in some countries and for certain transactions (certainly much more than any other cryptocurrency). Since bitcoin can function as both a unit of exchange and a store of value, it has value as a digital currency. 

Top 10 Largest Bitcoin Holders in the World

Well, who has the most bitcoin? It’s hard to say due to anonymity and the fact that many donn’t publicly disclose the amount of bitcoin they have versus other cryptocurrencies, but here’s a list of the largest bitcoin holders, even if the exact amount they own is not known. (Note: this list was sourced from MakeUseOf and MyBTC.)

1. Satoshi Nakamoto: As already mentioned, this name is used to identify the anonymous creator (or creators) who invented Bitcoin. 
2. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss: The Winklevoss brothers have secured their names in the crypto industry as the founders of Gemini, a popular crypto exchange, and Winklevoss Capital, an angel investor firm. Today, they own around $6 billion in bitcoin.
3. Barry Silbert: The founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, Barry Silbert builds and supports blockchain-based developments. Though it is unknown how much bitcoin Silbert owns, the digital currency investing firm he owns, Greyscale, holds around $25 billion USD. 
4. Tim Draper: An American venture capital investor, Draper’s early investment in bitcoin secured him as a billionaire. 
5. Sam Bankman-Fried: The founder of FTX, another big player in the crypto exchange game, Bankman-Fried’s net worth is $22.5 billion and he is thought to be one of the richest people in cryptocurrency. 
6. Michael J. Saylor: Another early investor in bitcoin, Saylor is believed to own $4.8 billion. 
7. Brian Armstrong: One of the founders of Coinbase. While no one knows exactly how much bitcoin Armstrong has, his overall crypto holdings have made him one of the wealthiest people in America. 
8. Gavin Andresen: Another early investor in bitcoin, Andresen is the successor of Bitcoin after Nakamoto and he has worked on design flaws, perfecting the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency. He is definitely one of the world’s top Bitcoin billionaires. 
9. Tesla: In SEC filings, Tesla is reported to have invested $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency. Tesla will also begin accepting bitcoin payments in exchange for its goods, becoming the first automaker to do so. 
10. Dan Morehead: The founder of Pantera Capital, the world’s first cryptocurrency-focused investment company, Morehead has a net worth of more than $200 million.
    

Once again, this list of who has the most bitcoin is constantly changing and is merely an estimate, as it’s tough to know exactly how much bitcoin versus other cryptocurrencies a lot of these people and companies own.