Only 5% Own Bitcoin: What If 10% of the World Wants It?

[davis196]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.
A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

There's a big difference between "showing an interest in acquiring" and actually acquiring Bitcoin. Showing interest in acquiring means nothing. We are our actions, not our thoughts. Maybe you are asking what would happen if 10% of the global population buys Bitcoin? The answer is quite simple. The BTC price would most likely double. The real question here is "Why would 10 percent of the global population be interested in buying BTC?". There's plenty of room for growth, but for some reason, mass BTC adoption isn't growing at the pace we want it to grow.

[bangjoe]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.
A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

There's a big difference between "showing an interest in acquiring" and actually acquiring Bitcoin. Showing interest in acquiring means nothing. We are our actions, not our thoughts. Maybe you are asking what would happen if 10% of the global population buys Bitcoin? The answer is quite simple. The BTC price would most likely double. The real question here is "Why would 10 percent of the global population be interested in buying BTC?". There's plenty of room for growth, but for some reason, mass BTC adoption isn't growing at the pace we want it to grow.

If it is just an interest, it is useless because it is just a speech without action, interest is not always accompanied by action is no value, it is only about the use of language in the description of what is meant.
Substantial things someone will certainly be different in an effort to have bitcoin, and why they want to have bitcoin, we know how the principles of why to have bitcoin are quite numerous and growing in communities such as investment, store of value, inflation resistance, financial freedom, digital gold and so on which is the motivation of some people why have bitcoin, and yes it is a fundamental reason, I am quite sure people here also have their own reasons that make them keep holding bitcoin, if you want more detail in finding answers about a reason, then there is a need for a survey and it can make a concrete answer for you.

Not fast but also not slow in terms of adoption, in the last decade bitcoin has grown well in adoption, and this adoption does not mean only in buying and then in holding, in Proverbs adoption is quite widespread as well, as I mentioned earlier and a little extra like currency, trade speculation, and recently we heard can be described as a guarantee, and in the future can be more, depending on the growing confidence in bitcoin.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.
A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

Well, makes no sense to me to begin to imagine when we all already know that increase in the demand of bitcoin will always lead to increase of its worth/price, 10% of the population of the world showing interest or even buying bitcoin is a thing of "when" and not "if" because this and more is coming, its just a matter of time, they will buy bitcoin, not just show interest.

Bitcoin as I believe most of us know is still very new when we compare it to other world renowned assets like gold, silver and other precious stones, liquid or metal, the potential for more growth and adoption is enormous and this is the reason why some person are quietly/silently accumulating bitcoin.

[Catenaccio]

Well, makes no sense to me to begin to imagine when we all already know that increase in the demand of bitcoin will always lead to increase of its worth/price, 10% of the population of the world showing interest or even buying bitcoin is a thing of "when" and not "if" because this and more is coming, its just a matter of time, they will buy bitcoin, not just show interest.

Demand and supply are two components in a balance and it is never instantly effect when demand is bigger than supply for a while. There will be a very long time needed for a skew towards demand to show considerable effects on Bitcoin price. When effects appear, it will be massive and if we look backwards we can see it clearly and impressively.

Without massive demand on Bitcoin, how this digital cryptocurrency would have reached to 6-digit price. Similarly during one market cycle or even two cycles, people can feel unsure but after two, three, four market cycles, Bitcoin already made a new price level which looks to be very impossible and unbelievable when we are still uncertain in short term and mid term.

[UpTober]

But the interesting thing here is that to be an investor, a person does not actually need to have a complete Bitcoin, but rather, if he has a small part of a Bitcoin, that person can claim himself as an investor of Bitcoin. This easy availability of Bitcoin has given all kinds of professionals the opportunity to own Bitcoin. Yes, we all know that the supply of Bitcoin is limited, so when the demand for Bitcoin suddenly increases much more than before, the price of Bitcoin can naturally increase, but that does not mean that the price of Bitcoin will automatically increase. The amount of Bitcoin held by all those involved in Bitcoin, that is, investors, is not the same, such as someone holding Bitcoin with a large amount of money, someone holding Bitcoin continuously. 

So the same amount of Bitcoin that 5% of the world's people currently have could reach 10% or more of the world's people. In this case, the amount of Bitcoin that many people have will decrease, and those who don't have it will have new ones.

[Ziskinberg]

So the same amount of Bitcoin that 5% of the world's people currently have could reach 10% or more of the world's people. In this case, the amount of Bitcoin that many people have will decrease, and those who don't have it will have new ones.

Not necessarily will it decrease since every day there's trading happening in a normal market, so owning bitcoin even a whole bitcoin is not a problem. And since not all bitcoin investors are really into HODLing, so it's just easy to buy one if you want to. Bitcoin's daily trading volume is more or less $30 billion worldwide if I'm not mistaken, so if you are an ordinary investor, you have the opportunity to buy anytime.

[ultrloa]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.
A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

Easy logic, I would say.

We have a limited supply of something that people want, and it can be divided into smaller and smaller pieces. So what will happen when more people have a demand for it? Obviously the price for each piece will go up and this something will get more and more distributed and adopted (very important, even more so than the price).

Or am I missing something? I am not going to pretend to be an expert economist, but to me it looks like Bitcoin has a very important future ahead of it.

Easy answer and best thing to look at.

Since by means that Bitcoin is scare, more people have or buying it would probably lead to possible price increase.

then as what OP sad that we have 5% of world population have this, then if it happen the numbers grow and it reached to 10% or maybe more. The price of Bitcoin would definitely double raise even more high than that.

Even people don't have economic Background, they can easily say something positive if we are going to experience that situation.

[WatChe]

Well, makes no sense to me to begin to imagine when we all already know that increase in the demand of bitcoin will always lead to increase of its worth/price, 10% of the population of the world showing interest or even buying bitcoin is a thing of "when" and not "if" because this and more is coming, its just a matter of time, they will buy bitcoin, not just show interest.

Bitcoin as I believe most of us know is still very new when we compare it to other world renowned assets like gold, silver and other precious stones, liquid or metal, the potential for more growth and adoption is enormous and this is the reason why some person are quietly/silently accumulating bitcoin.

Bitcoin is new in comparison to markets like gold or stock but we have to give credit to Bitcoin for showing massive increase in its price in short duration and also building a community world wide. The world has already witnessed the potential of Bitcoin and return it has given to people who invested there money in it. Already institutes have started investing money in Bitcoin and its now very much clear that Bitcoin community will also increase in coming years.

[Primark]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.
A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

From 5% owning Bitcoin, based on your claim, if the percentage of people owning Bitcoin increases to 10%, the price of Bitcoin will be at a higher level than it is now, as there will be more Bitcoin adoption and demand will be higher. If demand is high, the price will definitely increase significantly, especially as Bitcoin has a maximum total supply of 21 million coins.However, I believe that Bitcoin adoption will continue to increase, and one day, it will even surpass 10% because more people are starting to understand the importance of Bitcoin. Even those who have been against it are beginning to believe in it.

Of course, when the number of Bitcoin holders increases from 5% to 10%, there is a huge possibility of increasing demand. Even when this demand increases in the market, the price will also increase. However, I will also consider not only the number of owners, but also how much money they are investing. Simply put, if 10 million people buy Bitcoin for $10, their total purchase price will be $100 million. Again, if only 100,000 investors buy Bitcoin for $10,000 each, then even though there are only 100,000 investors, their total purchase price will be $1 billion. Therefore, the demand increase will not be completely accurate if only the number of buyers increases, but the calculation of collective purchases will be the main reason for the market demand.

[ovcijisir]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.
A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

We know that there are more than 8 billion people in the world. If Bitcoin is divided equally among these more than 8 billion people, then it will be seen that very few Bitcoins will be received because the total supply of Bitcoin here is 21 million. So imagine how popular and in demand Bitcoin will be if every person has Bitcoin. Not everyone in the world has to have Bitcoin. There will be a time when anyone who wants it will not be able to buy a Bitcoin.

I really doubt that 5% of the population owns some BTC. First I would really like to know where those numbers came form. Did they analyse blockchain, looked how many cryptocurrency exchanges are there, asked financial insitiutions? Did they count in people who invest in crypto ETF funds?

To be honest I cant think of any way someone could tell how many people in the world own some BTC.
And if there is a was to do it I would be pretty interested to know it.

[macson]

It is estimated that more than 95% of the total potential supply of Bitcoin has already been mined, yet only 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin worth at least $1.

Just like what others have said, it seems impossible that 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin. The number is probably much less than that.

A question for everyone: what will happen when 10% of the world's population shows an interest in acquiring it?

Even when less than 5% of the world's population holds Bitcoin, its value has already reached where it is today, let alone if it could reach 7%, 10%, or even more than that. You can calculate for yourself how much it would increase when the supply of Bitcoin is so limited.

[Nanga Parbat]

Bitcoin is new in comparison to markets like gold or stock but we have to give credit to Bitcoin for showing massive increase in its price in short duration and also building a community world wide. The world has already witnessed the potential of Bitcoin and return it has given to people who invested there money in it. Already institutes have started investing money in Bitcoin and its now very much clear that Bitcoin community will also increase in coming years.

Bitcoin is new, but due to its natural volatility, it always has enough potential to attract investors. Just because of this, people are investing and taking advantage, which is not possible in other investments. Recently, a few developments have increased its popularity, which is also increasing its value and stability, which always had enough hype about its existence. For having an increase in price of 10% is surely too much because its limited supply is also always with its increased price, but if it's going to have a spread like this, surely it's bringing a new level of price, which is going to be beyond expectations because people are understanding its features, which are giving enough to bring more investors without any big concern.

[stompix]

~

I know what you are talking about, apart from this forum it is difficult (or almost impossible) to find someone with whom I can meaningfully talk about cryptocurrencies. Although honestly it's not a very smart thing for a long time, because they say if you talk about it, you probably have something valuable, and then it's just a question of when the bad guys will get that information.

I'm not finding people to talk about even hypothetically, like you know this Bitcoin stuff...have you tought aboutin it, do you know what... these things, without giving away that I've been holding coins since a decade ago, people do mention it here and there when it hits the news, but that's it. I don't know a single guy in real life interested in Bitcoin, well, apart from one, and that ended up being nearly a costly mistake of trusting the wrong person.

But on the other hand, there are over 300 million Binance accounts and over 100 million Coinbase accounts according to their own reports. And there are also polls where e.g. about 15% of US citizens claim to own "cryptocurrencies".

You have "40 million" users with balances on-chain...in 21 million coins.
You have 300 million users on Binance ....and Binance holds 400 000 BTC.
So an average of $80 per user...nope! 

I think we should cut at least in half the second one and at least by an order of magnitude the second one.
Besides, it's Binance reporting it, the exchange is run by a convict!

[d5000]

You have "40 million" users with balances on-chain...in 21 million coins.
You have 300 million users on Binance ....and Binance holds 400 000 BTC.
So an average of $80 per user...nope! 

I think a third to half of these accounts are probably empty (they were used somewhen in the past) or hold only some worthless shitcoins. I have also still an account on Poloniex with about $10 of shitcoins on it

Another third could hold only altcoins. Binance isn't exactly a maximalist exchange.

So we'd arrive at 25-30% of accounts who could hold significant (>10$) numbers of Bitcoins, and that would be an average of $240-300. Only in BTC, other cryptos aren't affected by this calculation. I believe this to be a much likelier number, many will have e.g. $150 in BTC, $50 in ETH and $50 in other shitcoins. And those holding significant quantities are more likely to be part of the 20-40 million "real" users with self-custodied keys/wallets.

Binance is of course not the only existing exchange, thus I mentioned Coinbase as well, which could be a bit more trustworthy but has also a nine-fold user number, same as crypto.com. Many users will have several accounts, but I think all data combined (polls and user account reporting), 100 million is close to the minimum of "exchange Bitcoin users" I expect in 2026.

You could be correct with the order of magnitude cut for "unique Bitcoin users on Binance" who have no other accounts on other platforms, that could be around 30 million indeed.

[Munshi Prem Chand]

...

It really is a huge range. Which is exactly why we keep going in circles on this point. River estimates 300M (roughly 4% of the worlds population). Broad estimates from the likes of Glassnode and Chainalysis can go up to 480-500M but conservative estimates using wallets will give around 106M. So its a factor of 5x depending on your source.

But this variation exists due to the very issue you and stompix are discussing. As there is only around 57 million addresses holding any non-zero balance. Plus a large number of them are exchanges or business clusters.

Figure that could be much more informative is that there are a limited amount of addresses that actually have more than 1 BTC. There are only ~970,000-1,000,000 unique addresses with 1+ BTC. After factoring in exchanges you mostly see number of unique individuals holding a whole coin to be common estimated at between 800k to 950k. Which is much smaller figure and may be the more useful figure in terms of how many people actually have skin in the game.

[Rhow]

It may be difficult to determine the number of real owners from the number of exchange accounts, but your efforts are important. You may agree with me that it is unreasonable to assume that having an exchange account means that the person owns Bitcoin. There are many who may just have opened an account. Many may use stablecoins, while others may buy other cryptocurrencies. Especially for most investors, they are more comfortable storing Bitcoin as an asset in their own wallet. They may not have an exchange account, but they are also real Bitcoin owners.

[Sunshine1525]

Well since 95% have been mined, it means there are about 1m plus supply left, moreover more Bitcoins can't be printed which mean that more demand with little supply would trigger an adjustment of Bitcoin’s price meaning that it's more likely to go higher if that happens. More adoption contributes to the increase of Bitcoin’s value.

That's why people are encouraged to hold cause the future of Bitcoin is shinning bright and only those who hold are likely to benefit more in future. Although am aware that not everyone who would later adopt Bitcoin would hold.