Distribution of bitcoin wealth by owner

[jchst]

Well crypto has milions invested into them,is the first time i had read someone holding 500 btc into altcoins,and if i had read well you lost all since crypto gone,its an amazing history that must be shared with others,even ending bad its interesting to know that you had sucess trading altcoins over the years.To get milionaire or achieve 1 milion dollars or eur its possible with crypto,but besides lucky you will need something to start,and it can take several years as i see the market hot these last week but without a huge ammount you will make some satoshis when others are making 4 or 5 btc on each trade they make.

[Vlad2Vlad]

Well crypto has milions invested into them,is the first time i had read someone holding 500 btc into altcoins,and if i had read well you lost all since crypto gone,its an amazing history that must be shared with others,even ending bad its interesting to know that you had sucess trading altcoins over the years.To get milionaire or achieve 1 milion dollars or eur its possible with crypto,but besides lucky you will need something to start,and it can take several years as i see the market hot these last week but without a huge ammount you will make some satoshis when others are making 4 or 5 btc on each trade they make.

You only need a few grand to make millions right now.  That's all I had to start with before.  I can pick big winners like I picked ETH, but it takes time to execute and unwind and I think we only have 3-6 months before Bitcoin explodes.  I'm trying to find some ready to explode Alts but with no inside info it's like observing the universe through coke bottles.  Possible but improbable.

[RealBitcoin]

I`d really love to see a new estimation.

Has any online wallet made public their customers coin % of ownership (in aggregate format of course)?

Certainly such information could be used to sample this distribution and estimate how much bitcoin people do hold.

[mrhelpful]

Well crypto has milions invested into them,is the first time i had read someone holding 500 btc into altcoins,and if i had read well you lost all since crypto gone,its an amazing history that must be shared with others,even ending bad its interesting to know that you had sucess trading altcoins over the years.To get milionaire or achieve 1 milion dollars or eur its possible with crypto,but besides lucky you will need something to start,and it can take several years as i see the market hot these last week but without a huge ammount you will make some satoshis when others are making 4 or 5 btc on each trade they make.

You only need a few grand to make millions right now.  That's all I had to start with before.  I can pick big winners like I picked ETH, but it takes time to execute and unwind and I think we only have 3-6 months before Bitcoin explodes.  I'm trying to find some ready to explode Alts but with no inside info it's like observing the universe through coke bottles.  Possible but improbable.

You think the halving will that much for the bitcoins price though?

I`m checking from the last one and there wasnt much of a jump. ETH seems like a price bubble no? I`m not too informed with the whole alt coin news, but ever since I heard "cryptsy" being gone as a alt coin exchange and old history of "doge coin" being dead I just cringe so hard.

[RealBitcoin]

I`d really love to see a new estimation.

Has any online wallet made public their customers coin % of ownership (in aggregate format of course)?

Certainly such information could be used to sample this distribution and estimate how much bitcoin people do hold.

Please any reference to any new survey or research that has been done on this topic?

I`m very curious how much % of people hole how much % of bitcoin.

I think it's a massive concentration in about the top 5%.

[Yakamoto]

I`d really love to see a new estimation.

Has any online wallet made public their customers coin % of ownership (in aggregate format of course)?

Certainly such information could be used to sample this distribution and estimate how much bitcoin people do hold.

Please any reference to any new survey or research that has been done on this topic?

I`m very curious how much % of people hole how much % of bitcoin.

I think it's a massive concentration in about the top 5%.

Someone said a while ago that something like the top 100 wallets have 6 million Bitcoin or some similar number, and thus it seems more feasible that the top 1% hold or will hold >45% of all the Bitcoin that will exist.

I guess we'll find out one day.

[rpietila]

TOP-1% is probably about 50,000 holders now. I believe it's even more than 50% of the coins, especially if the VC's and their financed companies also have a long position.

(Strangely enough, I don't believe many of them do - Feb 2015 in Satoshi Roundtable I was shocked to see such people mainly short - you can check if it was a good time to be short then... )

[Vlad2Vlad]

TOP-1% is probably about 50,000 holders now. I believe it's even more than 50% of the coins, especially if the VC's and their financed companies also have a long position.

(Strangely enough, I don't believe many of them do - Feb 2015 in Satoshi Roundtable I was shocked to see such people mainly short - you can check if it was a good time to be short then... )

I was forced to dump that month.  I sold below $200.  Shocking!

[RealBitcoin]

Someone said a while ago that something like the top 100 wallets have 6 million Bitcoin or some similar number, and thus it seems more feasible that the top 1% hold or will hold >45% of all the Bitcoin that will exist.

I guess we'll find out one day.

Those are rumors FFS, how can anyone know this?

I need raw data folks, or at least some bigger survey about this.

[BitTlatoani]

====================================================================

A bit more recent Data from Block 350,000 (March 30th 2015)



Bitcoin Distribution by Address.

 

Bitcoin             # of Addresses       # of Addresses       # of Bitcoins         % of Bitcoins

0 - 0.001          67,723, 835            96.97%                 433.016                0.00%

000.1 - 0.01      660,606                 0.95%                   2,570.345             0.02%

0.01 - 0.1         703.760                 1.01%                   24,167.288            0.17%

0.1 - 1.0           381,141                 0.55%                   130,629.966          0.93%
 
1 - 10              246,675                 0.35%                    697,285.279          4.95%

10 -100            106,997                 0.15%                   3,726,675,722        26.62%

100 - 1K           14,422                  0.02%                    3,329,535.678       23.79%

1k - 10K           1,582                    0.00%                    3,255,894.410       23.26%

10k - 100K         99                       0.00%                    2,389,376.464       17.07%

100K - 21Mill      3                         0.00%                    440,781.859         3.15%

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTAL              69,839,103             100%                    13,997,351.024        100%



======================================================================


22. Apr 2014

#People   #Bitcoins   #TotalBitcoins
70   BTC10k+   3.6M
930   BTC1k-10k   2.2M
13k   BTC100-1k   3.0M
85k   BTC10-100   2.3M
250k   BTC1-10   0.8M
340k   BTC0.1-1   0.1M
230k   BTC0.01-0.1   0.0M
90k   BTC0.002-0.01   0.0M

Total: 12.2M bitcoins (0.5M bitcoins assumed lost)

[RealBitcoin]

====================================================================

A bit more recent Data from Block 350,000 (March 30th 2015)



Bitcoin Distribution by Address.

 

Bitcoin             # of Addresses       # of Addresses       # of Bitcoins         % of Bitcoins

0 - 0.001          67,723, 835            96.97%                 433.016                0.00%

000.1 - 0.01      660,606                 0.95%                   2,570.345             0.02%

0.01 - 0.1         703.760                 1.01%                   24,167.288            0.17%

0.1 - 1.0           381,141                 0.55%                   130,629.966          0.93%
 
1 - 10              246,675                 0.35%                    697,285.279          4.95%

10 -100            106,997                 0.15%                   3,726,675,722        26.62%

100 - 1K           14,422                  0.02%                    3,329,535.678       23.79%

1k - 10K           1,582                    0.00%                    3,255,894.410       23.26%

10k - 100K         99                       0.00%                    2,389,376.464       17.07%

100K - 21Mill      3                         0.00%                    440,781.859         3.15%

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTAL              69,839,103             100%                    13,997,351.024        100%



======================================================================


22. Apr 2014

#People   #Bitcoins   #TotalBitcoins
70   BTC10k+   3.6M
930   BTC1k-10k   2.2M
13k   BTC100-1k   3.0M
85k   BTC10-100   2.3M
250k   BTC1-10   0.8M
340k   BTC0.1-1   0.1M
230k   BTC0.01-0.1   0.0M
90k   BTC0.002-0.01   0.0M

Total: 12.2M bitcoins (0.5M bitcoins assumed lost)

Well ADDRESS =/= OWNER, most people have more than 1 address, so some wealthy guys could be in the 10k-100k, but control more addresses, therefore they are in the 100k+.

However I wonder what are those 3 addresses with big balance? Can we contact those addresses somehow and see if they are still owned by someone?

[JayJuanGee]

Someone said a while ago that something like the top 100 wallets have 6 million Bitcoin or some similar number, and thus it seems more feasible that the top 1% hold or will hold >45% of all the Bitcoin that will exist.

I guess we'll find out one day.

Those are rumors FFS, how can anyone know this?

I need raw data folks, or at least some bigger survey about this.

As you can see from OP (and the last couple of posts), there can be a variety of methodologies to extract data in order to make inferential and logical claims.... so far, not really direct data concerning this topic.

Also, sometimes, there can be a bit confusing and possibly self-serving (inaccurate) information coming out of exchanges and other third-party wallet holders that may inaccurately portray number of wallet holders and distribution of coins in those wallets.  

For example, currently, I have my coins spread out over more than 10 wallets (but some wallets create multiple addresses, so currently, I have at least three times as many addresses as I do wallets).  Possibly, there would be enough information to figure out that those 10 wallets (and 30+ addresses) are mine, but I doubt that anytime soon there will be that level of transparency regarding private holdings.

Surely, I value some of my privacy - even though in anonymous survey, i may be willing to tell the truth regarding my holdings - depending on my mood on that day.


Also, is there some fractional reserves going on with bitcoin... I hope not, but I am sure that there is some level of that going on, too.

[Iseecookies]

I see in the starting post there was only one person (Satoshi) in the 100K - 21Mill and flashing forward to today there are three.
Any idea who the other 2 are or is that still unknown aspect. My guess is Winklevoss twins but do not think they bought this much.
Really had no idea there was so little people actually entrenched in bitcoin,interesting to see the ladder.

[JayJuanGee]

but I doubt that anytime soon there will be that level of transparency regarding private holdings.

You want to say never, there will never be a definite proof that can prove that you own an address.

Even if you send regularly money to a bitcoin address, there is no way to prove that the recipient is you unless you send from that address as well.

So even if there are 100 addresses well connected that send money to eachother, there is no way to prove that who owns them even if some addresses there have a real owner.

It can be anything. Really the blockchain only tells you as much as you can see, everything else is speculation.

Surely, I value some of my privacy - even though in anonymous survey, i may be willing to tell the truth regarding my holdings - depending on my mood on that day.

Most people dont lie, that is why surveys work, otherwise the whole concept of survey would be useless.

So an anonymous survey with many participants, could give us scientific info about the % distribution of wealth holders, if the samples are well selected.

Also, is there some fractional reserves going on with bitcoin... I hope not, but I am sure that there is some level of that going on, too.

Haha those are scams, we are not interested in that, there are 15.3 million bitcoins now, we are only interested in real bitcoins.

You make all decent points, except your response to my last point.


Of course there is some fractional reserves going on.  You don't think so?  They end up being a scam if they get caught and there is a run on the bank, but there is considerable incentives for 3rd party holders to engage in fractional reserve behaviors, especially if they think that they will not get caught....

You think chinese exchanges have full reserves?  Bitfinex, BTCC, OK coin, Huobi?  Even if they allow marginal trading, etc etc, it seems more likely than not that they do not have all the coins that they claim to have.  But I am hypothesizing about that, too.

[JayJuanGee]

You make all decent points, except your response to my last point.


Of course there is some fractional reserves going on.  You don't think so?  They end up being a scam if they get caught and there is a run on the bank, but there is considerable incentives for 3rd party holders to engage in fractional reserve behaviors, especially if they think that they will not get caught....

You think chinese exchanges have full reserves?  Bitfinex, BTCC, OK coin, Huobi?  Even if they allow marginal trading, etc etc, it seems more likely than not that they do not have all the coins that they claim to have.  But I am hypothesizing about that, too.

Actually, i have thought about this, since i`m a hobby economist but I came to the conclusion that it's irrelevant.

Bitcoin ponzi schemes are isolated, and wont create systematic problems. Only those will be affected that hold their coins there.

Yes people will lose their money, but the ponzi wont be passed on to the entire network ,like they do with fiat.

In the fiat system, the entire global banking system is a ponzi scheme, so you cannot save your money anywhere.

But in bitcoin, if you are so dumb to keep your money in an exchange, that is your fault, and the loss is isolated to those dumb clients, while the cold storage holders won't lose anything.

I don't disagree with you, necessarily; however, I nonetheless believe that you may be undercalculating the impact of fractional reserves on bitcoin valuation - and even our knowledge of the distribution of actual coins out there.  Surely, technical people and bitcoin advocates have concerns about the extent to which fractional reserve practices may be taking place and there remains pushes to increase ease of use mechanisms to verify that coins are there and also for individuals to more easily maintain their own private keys, rather than trusting them to 3rd parties. 

Gox was a pretty decent sized example of fractional reserves coming to a head, yet a similar problem could result again, which causes some undermining of confidence in bitcoin and can indirectly drag down the whole value of bitcoins.  Nonetheless, I agree with you that the problem is not as pervasive in bitcoin (or even other crypto currencies) as it is with almost all major fiat currencies.

[Vlad2Vlad]

I see in the starting post there was only one person (Satoshi) in the 100K - 21Mill and flashing forward to today there are three.
Any idea who the other 2 are or is that still unknown aspect. My guess is Winklevoss twins but do not think they bought this much.
Really had no idea there was so little people actually entrenched in bitcoin,interesting to see the ladder.

Roger Ver ~ 300,000 BTC.

Eric Voorhees ~ 125,000 BTC

Karl Gray - ~ 100,000 BTC

U.S. Govt ~ 600,000 (Ross Ulbright)

U.S. Govt ~ 500,000 (Gox theft) >> My guess

Those are the numbers I've seen again and again.  There are a few others. 

And of course the mining pools.  They own millions. 

[praprata]

I see in the starting post there was only one person (Satoshi) in the 100K - 21Mill and flashing forward to today there are three.
Any idea who the other 2 are or is that still unknown aspect. My guess is Winklevoss twins but do not think they bought this much.
Really had no idea there was so little people actually entrenched in bitcoin,interesting to see the ladder.

Roger Ver ~ 300,000 BTC.

Eric Voorhees ~ 125,000 BTC

Karl Gray - ~ 100,000 BTC

U.S. Govt ~ 600,000 (Ross Ulbright)

U.S. Govt ~ 500,000 (Gox theft) >> My guess

Those are the numbers I've seen again and again.  There are a few others. 

And of course the mining pools.  They own millions. 

That's a lot of money. Suppose it's true.

Then 4 entities. just 4 own 10% of all the bitcoin. That's something which is not good. And we all know most of us have more addresses, which mean the top 10 probably own way more then we will ever know.

[RealPhotoshoper]

I see in the starting post there was only one person (Satoshi) in the 100K - 21Mill and flashing forward to today there are three.
Any idea who the other 2 are or is that still unknown aspect. My guess is Winklevoss twins but do not think they bought this much.
Really had no idea there was so little people actually entrenched in bitcoin,interesting to see the ladder.

Roger Ver ~ 300,000 BTC.

Eric Voorhees ~ 125,000 BTC

Karl Gray - ~ 100,000 BTC

U.S. Govt ~ 600,000 (Ross Ulbright)

U.S. Govt ~ 500,000 (Gox theft) >> My guess

Those are the numbers I've seen again and again.  There are a few others. 

And of course the mining pools.  They own millions. 

i just wondering how can they got so many bitcoins?is they all mine bitcoin since 2009?if that was true,i'm give big respect to them,they can predict the future,they know bitcoin have good future and long life,so they get that amount befre so many people know about bitcoin and adopt it.

[RealBitcoin]

Ok we look at block 400,000  there exists 15,247,397.211 BTC in circulation.

I looked at bitcoinrichlist: http://www.bitcoinrichlist.com/charts/bitcoin-distribution-by-address?atblock=400000


Let's see what that distribution is:



First we ignore the 0 - 0.001 BTC balances because those are highly likely change addresses or black holes.


So that means we work with 15,246,656.603BTC

Here is the estimated distribution:



Which breaks down to:



And the  BITCOIN/% distribution:



We can see it's quite centralized, the most bitcoin goes to the smallest % distribution at the top

[rpietila]

Could you all be so kind as to only discuss the Distribution of bitcoin wealth by owner here, and use any or all of the "Distribution of bitcoin wealth by address" threads for that purpose.

The "distribution by address" data does not give any useful indication about the owners, or if you believe it does, start with explaining how the situation has changed from the first 20 pages when it did not.