Only 1 in 10,000 own at least 1 BTC

[devouring-DARKNESS]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.



https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/s/LhPZIISBrz
By the way I stumbled upon this information while scrolling through reddit

[Nathrixxx]

What really matters is that people are investing in Bitcoin and keep considering it an investment asset or digital currency; this is part of what has always made it a unique digital currency compared to other cryptocurrencies or traditional assets. Both the giant holders and the individual investors who couldn't afford to do without investing in a profitable asset will continue with Bitcoin regardless.

[Antidote47k]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.

Interesting numbers but you’re mixing things up, the 21 million number is maximum number of btc that can exist, and not the maximum number of individuals that can ever own 1 BTC. For instance, someone can own 1 btc today and still transfer it to another person tomorrow so overtime that 1 BTC can belong to many different people.

So while there can never be more than roughly 21 million BTC in existence, no protocol rule says that only 21 million individuals can ever own 1 BTC. What might be considered impossible is more than 21 million individuals owning atleast 1 btc simultaneously.

[PostQuantumBTC]

How do they know this?

How will they know people that have 2, 3 or more bitcoin addresses?

Also how did they know the number of people that are having their bitcoin store on exchanges? I am not saying that having bitcoin on exchanges is good but some people have their bitcoin there.

Number of bitcoin addresses having the amount of bitcoin is different from total population of people having the amount of bitcoin.

[devouring-DARKNESS]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.

Interesting numbers but you’re mixing things up, the 21 million number is maximum number of btc that can exist, and not the maximum number of individuals that can ever own 1 BTC. For instance, someone can own 1 btc today and still transfer it to another person tomorrow so overtime that 1 BTC can belong to many different people.

So while there can never be more than roughly 21 million BTC in existence, no protocol rule says that only 21 million individuals can ever own 1 BTC. What might be considered impossible is more than 21 million individuals owning atleast 1 btc simultaneously.

That was my point to begin with, just because I didn't point out that not more than 21 million people can own 1 bitcoin at a time doesn't mean that wasn't what I meant.

How do they know this?

How will they know people that have 2, 3 or more bitcoin addresses?

Also how did they know the number of people that are having their bitcoin store on exchanges? I am not saying that having bitcoin on exchanges is good but some people have their bitcoin there.

Number of bitcoin addresses having the amount of bitcoin is different from total population of people having the amount of bitcoin.

I have no idea and I don't exactly trust the numbers, all it did though was help me realize that with time even less and less people will be able to own 1 bitcoin and at a single point in time that number will never be more than 21 million, when you consider the amount of bitcoin that has been lost then that number gets even smaller.

[MArsland]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.



https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/s/LhPZIISBrz
By the way I stumbled upon this information while scrolling through reddit

Here you can see it widely https://www.bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin-distribution-history.html the fact is that 21 million bitcoins are now owned by far fewer than 21 million people. Another factor because there is a permanent loss of his private key, left dead and other factors that lead to loss of access to the wallet.
If it is assumed that 21 million bitcoins are not lost, then if divided by the number of people on Earth, for example, 8+ billion people, then on average only have 0.002625 BTC/person.

[Catenaccio]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.



https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/s/LhPZIISBrz
By the way I stumbled upon this information while scrolling through reddit

You can look at Bitcoin rich list for further information but please note that this rich list is for Bitcoin addresses, not for Bitcoin owners. Because it's impossible to identify all people or entities behind existing and used Bitcoin addresses.

https://bitinfocharts.com/top-100-richest-bitcoin-addresses.html

Another information about Bitcoin total supply cap, 21 millions.
Why is Bitcoin's supply limit set to 21 million?

According to an email purportedly shared between Nakamoto and Bitcoin Core contributor Mike Hearn, Satoshi reasoned that if 21 million coins were to be used by some fraction of the world economy, 0.001 BTC (1 mBTC) could be worth around €1. This prediction came true back in 2013, when Bitcoin first broke through the €1,000 price point; today, each mBTC is currently worth closer to €8.25.

[Donneski]

Satoshi Nakamoto in his wisdom did set a strict limit of 21 million coins in the original code to create scarcity and stop inflation, it doesn't literally mean that 21 million is the maximum number of people that can own BTC. Someone who owns BTC today can decide to sell it tomorrow to another who's never owned it, thereby adding to the number of people that's owned BTC. Bitcoin will continue to change hands.

Also, you should know that the number of Bitcoin addresses doesn't doesn't equate to number of Bitcoin holders. One person can decide to own several addresses and for an exchange, thousands of customers can be made to operate under few addresses.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

I don't think the information in this image you post is very accurate, it's just an estimate which could be wrong to some extent. How did the person proved that 96.3% of world population has 0 Bitcoin and also the number of people that he considers to have at least 1 or more Bitcoin, did he take in consideration that some people (maybe one person) can have multiple address where they have different amount of Bitcoin in those addresses?

In my opinion, it's very difficult to achieve the exact number of world population Bitcoin holders and the exact amount of Bitcoin they are holding, there are lost Bitcoins in different address which they can not actually prove that the coins are lost, there are some persons with multiple address, there are the institutions and exchange where people could have their Bitcoins too.

[Zlantann]

How do they know this?

How will they know people that have 2, 3 or more bitcoin addresses?

Also how did they know the number of people that are having their bitcoin store on exchanges? I am not saying that having bitcoin on exchanges is good but some people have their bitcoin there.

Number of bitcoin addresses having the amount of bitcoin is different from total population of people having the amount of bitcoin.

I don't know how they came up with this assumption. Identification of Bitcoin address owners will be an impossible task. I am also wondering how they will handle exchange addresses that serve as a pool for different users. The large amounts in the custody of these exchanges might be owned by different people who own up to one Bitcoin.

Nevertheless, the news might be true. One statistic claims that only about 400 million to 600 million adults globally are worth $80k. So only a few people can afford one BTC.

[OcTradism]

I don't know how they came up with this assumption. Identification of Bitcoin address owners will be an impossible task. I am also wondering how they will handle exchange addresses that serve as a pool for different users. The large amounts in the custody of these exchanges might be owned by different people who own up to one Bitcoin.

It's impossible to know how many Bitcoin addresses used by one person or one company. It's especially impossible if they use change addresses and use coin control for selection of UTXOs carefully for their privacy. Addresses are only identified from one wallet if people combine UXTOs from the addresses in one transaction.

Mistakes can be made by Bitcoin users but not always and it's why the task to count how many Bitcoin users so far is very unrealistic.
How many people own, hold, and use Bitcoin?

The answer is:

No one will ever know the amount of Bitcoin users in the world. As explained below, there can only be an estimate of the number of people with Bitcoin.

The most common method of estimating the number of Bitcoin owners is to look at the amount held in different addresses.

In 2024, estimates show there are 106 million people who own Bitcoin.

[ColdLava40]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.

Satoshi's estimate is the only one I'm fairly confident in. The rest are mostly speculation and round figures, but they still give us something to start with.

What we need to pick from this is that so long bitcoin adoption continues, it doesn't matter how small the amount of Bitcoin you hold is. You still own Bitcoin. Sats are Bitcoin, and those small amounts can still become part of the Bitcoin economy as millions of people around the world continue to adopt it.

We still have several halvings before close to 20 million BTC are mined. Each halving reduces the rate at which new Bitcoin enters circulation, making it harder for anyone to accumulate large amounts from newly mined coins.

And even after all the Bitcoin has been mined, that won't mean Bitcoin stops moving. People will still want to sell while others want to buy. Bitcoins will continue changing hands between generations, businesses and individuals.

So even after the last Bitcoin is mined, future generations will still be able to participate in Bitcoin's growth, ownership and adoption.

[MainIbem]

I don't think the information in this image you post is very accurate, it's just an estimate which could be wrong to some extent. How did the person proved that 96.3% of world population has 0 Bitcoin and also the number of people that he considers to have at least 1 or more Bitcoin, did he take in consideration that some people (maybe one person) can have multiple address where they have different amount of Bitcoin in those addresses?

In my opinion, it's very difficult to achieve the exact number of world population Bitcoin holders and the exact amount of Bitcoin they are holding, there are lost Bitcoins in different address which they can not actually prove that the coins are lost, there are some persons with multiple address, there are the institutions and exchange where people could have their Bitcoins too.

I also do not think it's accurate but even though it is to an extent, I won't let that bother me because Bitcoin investment is not a competition, whether people own more than 1 BTC or more is for their own good so I'll habe to mind my business and focus on myself then try to get mine as well, which can online be done by accumulation, not checking stats to know how many people has up to 1 BTC or more. Before the 21million Bitcoins are minded completely by 2140, I don't think about 10million people would have up to 1BTC, the numbers would reduce as Bitcoin keeps increasing.

[Cryptoprincess101]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.

Of course, it won't be more than 21 million Bitcoins because it was capped in order to cause scarcity which will increase the value of bitcoins but if it exceeds the limited supply, it might begin to lose its value because the supply might surpass the demand.

I don't think the information in this image you post is very accurate, it's just an estimate which could be wrong to some extent. How did the person proved that 96.3% of world population has 0 Bitcoin and also the number of people that he considers to have at least 1 or more Bitcoin, did he take in consideration that some people (maybe one person) can have multiple address where they have different amount of Bitcoin in those addresses?

In my opinion, it's very difficult to achieve the exact number of world population Bitcoin holders and the exact amount of Bitcoin they are holding, there are lost Bitcoins in different address which they can not actually prove that the coins are lost, there are some persons with multiple address, there are the institutions and exchange where people could have their Bitcoins too.

You're right because this data is only done through wallet addresses and not based on individual holders. One person can own more than one addresses with huge amounts of bitcoins in each one of them. Using wallets addresses to collect data of individual holders will always give an inaccurate result because even Satoshi Nakamoto own more than one Bitcoin wallet addresses. If it were in centralized exchange wallet where KYC is required, it is possible to get nearly accurate data but still it won't be accurate because an individual can use KYC information of different people he trust to register on CEXs.

[Floxynice]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.

I do not care about the statistics because they definitely do not represent the true state of Bitcoin ownership across the world. Many factors were not taken into consideration before arriving at that data. So, I will not rely on such data or any other data similar to that one that does not capture all the circumstances that may affect the conclusion drawn from the data.

21 million bitcoins does not mean that they must be owned by 21 million people. More people will own Bitcoin, even if they could not own up to 1 BTC or more; more people will have it in sats. Even as we take note of lost bitcoins and many other factors, you should not forget that Bitcoin adoption is still growing, and with time, more and more new people will own Bitcoin across the world.

[WatChe]

I also do not think it's accurate but even though it is to an extent, I won't let that bother me because Bitcoin investment is not a competition, whether people own more than 1 BTC or more is for their own good so I'll habe to mind my business and focus on myself then try to get mine as well, which can online be done by accumulation, not checking stats to know how many people has up to 1 BTC or more. Before the 21million Bitcoins are minded completely by 2140, I don't think about 10million people would have up to 1BTC, the numbers would reduce as Bitcoin keeps increasing.

The price of Bitcoin is 77k now and its not possible for majority of people in the world to own 1 complete Bitcoin or even 0.1 Bitcoin. The best thing about Bitcoin is that we can start investing in it with even 10$ and that thing is beneficial specially for people who don't have huge capital to invest. Whats important to understand about Bitcoin is that it can change our financial status in future, if we remain consistent in bitcoin investment. Bitcoin is not restricted for people with huge capital only but for people who are determined to invest for long term.    

[Bitcoin_Arena]

Useless stats

It should be "Only 1 in 10,000 Bitcoin addresses owns at least 1 BTC."

A person can own more than 1 Bitcoin address. I could have 5 addresses with 10 BTC in each of them. According to you, that is 5 people. Alternatively, I could have 10 Bitcoin addresses with 0.1 BTC in each of them; technically, I own 1 BTC

[noorman0]

And a single address holding thousands of bitcoins could actually represent the holdings of hundreds of different owners. However, I agree with the OP that individuals have an increasingly slim chance of accumulating at least one bitcoin over their lifetime. That comes as no surprise; ultimately, anything with a limited supply works that way. I simply disagree with making comparisons based on addresses.

[aoluain]

And a single address holding thousands of bitcoins could actually represent the holdings of hundreds of different owners. However, I agree with the OP that individuals have an increasingly slim chance of accumulating at least one bitcoin over their lifetime. That comes as no surprise; ultimately, anything with a limited supply works that way. I simply disagree with making comparisons based on addresses.

and also a single person with multiple addresses containing many Bitcoin and varying amounts
of Satoshi's. So I assume the statistics in the OP contain something vague in terms of individuals
and are more accurate in terms of addresses.

Its a nice reminder though that as we know Bitcoin is limited so owning any amount regardless
of BTC1 such a great/wise move/decision. We can count ourselves very privaleged and give
ourselves a congratulationary pat on the back.

[stompix]

I'm not even sure how legit it is, but it did lead me to realize that there will never be more than 21 million individuals to own 1 bitcoin and the numbers will only get lower.

There could never have been 21 million individuals, even with uniformized forced distribution, the last BTC will not be actually compelte, and the first 50 BTC are impossible to spend, plus there have been more hiccups down the way to make it impossible mathematically and in theory, not even remotely practically.

Also, that chart is stupid, it says 270 million under 0.01... sorry, but there aren't that many funded addresses in total, and that is adresses, not wallets

Useless stats
It should be "Only 1 in 10,000 Bitcoin addresses owns at least 1 BTC."

There are 129551 addresses with more than 10 BTC, around 0.25 of the total addresses, so that's one in every 400