God, I still remember my mate Oscar going on about Bitcoin back in 2017. “It’s gonna make us rich!” he kept saying whilst I was thinking he’d lost his marbles. 

Fast forward to now, and I’m properly kicking myself for not listening. But here’s what really gets me: while Oscar was buying a few quid’s worth, there were already people sitting on millions of the things. So who owns the most bitcoins? The answer might surprise you, especially when you see just how much wealth is concentrated in so few hands.

The Ghost Who Started It All

Right at the top of the pile sits someone we’ve never even met. Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever that is, still owns the biggest stash of Bitcoin on the planet. The mysterious creator holds an estimated 968,452 to 1.1 million BTC, which is absolutely mental when you think about it.

Here’s the mad bit: these coins haven’t moved since 2010. Fifteen years! Can you imagine having that much money just sitting there, doing nothing? At today’s prices, we’re talking about roughly £100 billion worth of Bitcoin that’s basically frozen in time.

I reckon Satoshi’s either dead, lost the keys (wouldn’t that be typical?), or they’re the most patient person in history. Either way, if those coins ever move, the entire crypto market would go absolutely bonkers. Think about it: nearly 5% of all Bitcoin suddenly appearing on exchanges? Markets would probably crash harder than my attempts at trading crypto.

The funny thing is, nobody really knows if Satoshi is one person, a group, or some government project. Could be your next-door neighbour for all we know. But whoever they are, they’re sitting pretty as the world’s first crypto billionaire.

The Mad American Who Went All In

Now here’s where it gets properly interesting. Michael Saylor, the boss of MicroStrategy, has basically turned his entire company into a Bitcoin buying machine. And I mean that literally,  this bloke has been hoarding Bitcoin like it’s going out of fashion.

As of February 2025, MicroStrategy holds 499,096 bitcoins, which they bought for about £22 billion. That’s not pocket change; that’s proper “bet the farm” money. Saylor’s convinced Bitcoin is better than gold, better than property, better than anything, really.

What’s mental is how he’s done it. Instead of just buying Bitcoin with spare cash, he’s been borrowing money, selling shares, and doing whatever it takes to buy more. The company now owns more than 3% of all Bitcoin ever created. Three per cent! That’s like owning 3% of all the gold in Fort Knox.

My accountant would have a proper fit if I suggested something like this for my business. But Saylor’s laughing all the way to the bank. His company’s stock price has gone through the roof because investors know they’re basically buying Bitcoin through the back door.

The bloke’s either a genius or completely barmy. Time will tell, I suppose.

When Governments Get Involved

Here’s something that would’ve sounded like science fiction ten years ago, governments are now major Bitcoin holders. The US government sits on massive piles of the stuff, mostly from seizing it off criminals and drug dealers.

Every time the FBI raids some dodgy operation and finds Bitcoin wallets, they don’t just delete them; they keep the coins. Over the years, this has added up to serious money. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin that Uncle Sam now controls.

Other countries are getting in on the act too. El Salvador went proper mental and made Bitcoin legal tender. They’ve been buying it regularly, treating it like a national reserve currency. Bit risky if you ask me, but fair play to them for having the bottle.

Even companies like Tesla bought billions worth at one point, though Elon Musk being Elon, he sold most of it later. Typical.

The Exchange Kings

Then you’ve got the crypto exchanges: Binance, Coinbase, and the rest. These guys hold millions of Bitcoin on behalf of their customers. It’s not technically theirs, but they control it, which amounts to the same thing in practice.

Binance alone probably controls more Bitcoin than most countries’ entire economies are worth. Makes you think about how much power these platforms actually have, doesn’t it? If Binance decided to do something dodgy with all that Bitcoin, half the crypto world would be stuffed.

Course, they’re supposed to keep customer funds separate and safe. But we’ve seen what happened with FTX: one day you’re on top of the world, and the next day you’re in handcuffs and everyone’s money has vanished.

The ETF Revolution

Here’s the newest development that’s got everyone talking. Bitcoin ETFs are now holding so much of the cryptocurrency that they’ve actually overtaken Satoshi Nakamoto as the largest collective holders. That’s properly significant.

These ETFs let normal people buy Bitcoin through their pension funds and ISAs without actually owning the coins directly. Sounds boring, but it’s actually massive news. When your gran can buy Bitcoin through her retirement account, you know it’s gone mainstream.

The amounts flowing into these ETFs are staggering. Billions every month. It’s like watching a dam burst; all this institutional money that was sitting on the sidelines is now pouring into Bitcoin.

What This All Means

So when people ask who owns the most bitcoins, the answer’s getting more complicated every day. You’ve got the mystery person at the top, the mad American buying everything in sight, governments sitting on war chests, exchanges controlling millions, and now ETFs hoovering up whatever’s left.

The concentration is what gets me. Less than 1% of Bitcoin addresses control more than 90% of all coins. That’s proper oligarchy territory. Makes you wonder if Bitcoin’s really the democratic, decentralised currency everyone said it would be.

But here’s the thing: most of these big holders aren’t selling. They’re holding for the long term, which means there’s less Bitcoin available for the rest of us. Basic supply and demand says that should push prices up over time.

Whether that actually happens is anyone’s guess. Crypto’s mental like that; just when you think you’ve got it figured out, something completely mental happens and everything changes.

One thing’s for certain, though; the people who own the most bitcoins right now are either very clever, very lucky, or very early to the party. Probably all three.