Much still needs to be discovered about the biggest crypto holders of each digital asset, as it is difficult to determine the actual owners of crypto wallets despite advancements in blockchain technology transparency. However, we have managed to compile a list of the largest Bitcoin holders or Bitcoin whales as BTC trades above the $100k mark. This is a continuation of our earlier article on the biggest publicly traded BTC holding companies.
Bitcoin holders are dynamic—from large investors to companies to countries, which frequently change based on regulatory developments and shifting market conditions along with other external factors.
So, let’s take a look at the biggest Bitcoin whales of 2024.
Satoshi Nakamoto (~1.1 million BTC)
The pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is one of the biggest BTC whales with over 1 million stash of the coin. However, on-chain data points to 54,316 blocks which is 50 BTC from each block before the first halving event happened.
Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in a white paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” to a cryptography mailing group on October 31, 2008. This paper described Bitcoin as “a decentralized peer-to-peer protocol that was secure in terms of cryptography.”
As per Satoshi Nakamoto Bitcoin is a “purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash” that “would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution or any intermediary.”
Most of Nakamoto’s Bitcoin stash is lying dormant, unspent in 22,000 wallet addresses, which is a major portion of BTC supply. In case Nakamoto decides to move his BTC holding, it would lead to a major fluctuation in the Bitcoin market value and have a far-reaching effect on the broader crypto industry.
Winklevoss twins (~70,000 BTC)
The co-founders of the Gemini crypto exchange, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, still remain the biggest Bitcoin whales, with nearly 70,000 BTC under them. Popularly known as the Winklevoss twins, these two started the Gemini crypto exchange in 2014.
The Winklevoss twins recently contributed $2 million worth of Bitcoin to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Each of them donated 15.47 BTC, which totals to 30.94 Bitcoin. However, they had to refund part of their contributions as it surpassed the legal limit of donation.
This led to Cameron and Tyler investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to settle their $65 million lawsuit against Facebook. The Winklevoss twins' early BTC investment made them a prominent figure in the crypto and blockchain sectors, which they solidified by 2015 by co-funding the crypto exchange.
As per a Fortune article, Gemini became a leading crypto exchange as digital asset prices reached new heights every day, giving the twins a net worth of more than $7 billion. However, the crypto crash in the winter of that year wiped out $2 trillion from the industry, which also affected the twins
Tim Draper (~29,656 BTC)
The man behind fintech companies like Robinhood and crypto exchange Coinbase, Timothy Cook Draper, is one of the biggest Bitcoin whales with 29,656 BTC. Draper is the brain behind companies like Skype, Hotmail, Tesla, DocuSign, and Twitter.
10 years ago, in 2014, Draper bought 29,656 BTC for $632 per coin, making it an investment of $18.7 million. Draper bought these from US Marshals, who had seized them from the shuttered Silk Road black market. The man behind Coinbase is known to support decentralization and against government control
Michael Saylor (~17,732 BTC)
Just like MicroStrategy made it to the list of the biggest publicly traded Bitcoin holding companies, its founder Michael Saylor, is also on the list of the biggest Bitcoin whales with 17,732 BTC. Saylor was the CEO of MicroStrategy till August 2022 and later became the chairman of the company.
The MicroStrategy founder is a firm supporter of Bitcoin as seen from his pitch to Microsoft to invest in BTC. Saylor's ownership of the business analytics firm in the 90s turned him into a multibillionaire.
However, MicroStrategy stocks declined in value after the SEC filed accounting allegations against the firm and levied a $11 million fine. This dented Saylor's net worth by $6 billion.
But the MicroStrategy founder soon recovered from the losses and rebuilt his fortune with Bitcoin investments, which filled the gap of previous setbacks. This has made Saylor a Bitcoin advocate, which he termed as “a bank in cyberspace, run by incorruptible software, offering a global, affordable, simple, and secure savings account to billions of people who don’t have the option or desire to run their own hedge fund.”
Michael Saylor's net worth stands at $4.8 billion after he purchased billions of dollars worth of BTC. Most of it comes from Class B holdings of MicroStrategy and the $1.14 billion worth of Bitcoin he bought in 2020.
Changpeng Zhao
Last but not least is crypto exchange Binance’s owner, Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, as he is known in the crypto world, with 94 million BNB tokens and undisclosed BTC holdings.
The 90% equity stakeholder of Binance reportedly purchased $1 million worth of Bitcoin by selling his apartment in China. This 1300 BTC investment is now valued at $106 million.
At present, Changpeng Zhao has a net worth of $61 billion, and 90% of it is from crypto investments.
Together, these 5 individual Bitcoin holders rule the crypto market with their holdings and can sway it if they make any transfers.