Who owns Bitcoin? According to Galaxy, 55% of the BTC supply still cannot have its ownership identified.

Over 11 million bitcoins still do not appear in the holding records of major blockchain research institutions. Galaxy Research estimates that 55% of the circulating supply of this cryptocurrency cannot be linked to any known individual or institution.

• Galaxy Research has discovered that approximately 11.1 million BTC coins, accounting for 55% of the total Bitcoin supply, cannot be linked to any known holders.
• Galaxy Research Supervisor Alex Thorn stated that these data indicate that individual investors may still be in control of a considerable amount of Bitcoin through their personal wallets.
• These unidentifiable holdings may include lost bitcoins, coins mined in the early days of the blockchain, as well as institutional wallets that researchers have not yet identified.
• The remaining 45% includes holdings attributed to exchanges, Bitcoin ETF, governments, and early miners related to the Satoshi Nakamoto era.

According to the Galaxy October position snapshot, despite years of continuous institutional buying, the launch of spot Bitcoin ETF, and an increasing number of companies providing cryptocurrency custody services, there are still approximately 11.1 million BTC that cannot be attributed to anyone.

Galaxy Research Supervisor Alex Thorn stated that these findings indicate that a large portion of Bitcoin may still be under the control of individuals, who hold their assets in their own wallets rather than relying on exchanges or financial institutions.

Thorn pointed out in a post on X in October that even after years of adoption by institutions, more than half of the Bitcoin supply still has no known owner. He believes that self-managed individuals may still constitute the majority of this unidentifiable supply.

However, this study does not indicate how many of these 11.1 million BTC coins belong to retail investors, as there may also be an unspecified number of institutional wallets that cannot be identified, as well as coins that are no longer accessible and could also be included in that total.

It remains difficult to track Bitcoin holdings.

Bitcoin transaction records are available on the public blockchain, allowing for the viewing of wallet addresses, balances, and transfers, without the need to know who controls that funds.

Research institutions typically identify the main holders by examining transaction histories and linking addresses to exchanges, investment funds, governments, and other entities whose holdings can be confirmed through existing records.

Data from Galaxy indicates that approximately 45% of the mined and supplied bitcoins are attributed to known holders or identifiable groups, while the remaining 55% do not have a confirmed ownership label.

An address that cannot be attributed to a specific individual does not necessarily represent a single investor. One person can control multiple wallets, and institutions may also distribute their holdings across multiple addresses or use custody arrangements that make it more difficult to confirm ownership.

The history of Bitcoin also provides an example of why it is difficult to identify ownership.

In August, Galaxy Research tracked down 6 dormant Bitcoin wallets that transferred 553.59 BTC, worth approximately $40.15 million, after being inactive for nearly 12 to over 15 years.

These transfers involve wallets from 2011, 2012, and 2014, but researchers are unable to determine who controls most of the addresses or why the funds were transferred.

Institutions' Bitcoin holdings continue to grow.

Despite a considerable portion of Bitcoin still being unrecognizable, financial institutions have accumulated a significant position through investment products and custody arrangements.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust is one of the largest identifiable institutional holders, in addition to other exchange-traded funds, cryptocurrency exchanges, and government-controlled wallets.

Recent Bitcoin ETF holding data shows that BlackRock's IBIT holds approximately 814,263 BTC, while the funds tracked by Lookonchain hold a total of 1,284,312 BTC.

The data from October 22 reflects the balances held by these tracked investment products, independent of their daily inflows and outflows of funds.

With the development of institutional demand, traditional banks are also expanding their cryptocurrency custody services.

In a report in August, crypto.news provided a detailed account of the expansion of custody services on Wall Street, which included Citibank's plan to launch Bitcoin custody services by the end of 2026.

Bank of New York Mellon has already provided cryptocurrency custody services for the issuer of ETF, while Coinbase Custody remains an important custodian provider for US spot cryptocurrency funds.

Unclaimed Bitcoin may include coins that have been lost.

Galaxy The estimates for unidentifiable supplies include several types of Bitcoin, which cannot be automatically assumed to be held by individual wallets.

Some of these may belong to early miners whose identities have never been confirmed, while others may be held by investment companies, private trading desks, or corporations, but their wallet addresses have not yet been publicly identified.

There is also a portion that may become permanently inaccessible due to the holder losing their private key, discarding the storage device, or passing away without leaving any recovery instructions.

The study does not provide verified split data to distinguish between lost Bitcoins, coins held by unidentified individuals, and coins held by institutions.

Galaxy also identified approximately 1,123,658 BTC and Patoshi that are related to mining modes. Researchers have linked these to the earliest mining activities of Bitcoin and usually associate them with the pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto.

This classification is based on historical mining patterns and cannot independently prove the real identities of miners.

Self-hosting is still part of the ownership debate.

As exchanges and institutional custodians handle large amounts of Bitcoin, these findings have also drawn attention to the continued use of personal wallets by the public.

Xapo Bank responded to Thorn's viewpoint by stating that retail investors had been involved in Bitcoin for over a decade before they entered the market on a large scale in the financial industry.

The bank describes Bitcoin as a system that allows people to “be their own bank,” emphasizing that there is no need to rely on traditional financial intermediaries when holding assets.

However, managing private keys also comes with security responsibilities, and the approaches to institutional hosting arrangements vary.

Casa Chief Security Officer Jameson Lopp has recently warned Bitcoin holders not to abandon personal custody following multiple incidents of hardware wallets being hacked and cryptocurrencies stolen.

In a letter dated October 22, Lopp recommended the use of multi-signature wallets and the dispersion of private keys across different devices and locations in order to reduce the risk of losing access rights after a single key is compromised.

He acknowledges that personal custody arrangements require meticulous security planning, including measures to be taken in cases where the holder is unable to access or manage their Bitcoin.

Lopp believes that ETF investors can gain exposure to Bitcoin prices without directly controlling the underlying cryptocurrencies, while the custody responsibilities are assumed by the fund and its designated service providers.