Who owns all the Bitcoin?

A lot of people have been asking the question, who really owns all the Bitcoin? Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin can be divided into parts with each having a value. These units are known as 'satoshis'. As no single central bank or authority issues new bitcoins, it is difficult to know exactly how many bitcoins are in circulation.

The number of units currently in existence is estimated at 17 million. A tiny 0.3% of the world's population owns a bitcoin, with nearly half of the owners holding two or less.

Looking at the distribution chart, it is clear that there are a couple of Bitcoin owners who hold a disproportionate amount of assets compared to other people or investors. For example, if you look at the top 10 addresses which account for 38% of all bitcoins, one belongs to Satoshi Nakamoto – an alias for Bitcoin's inventor.

Another address belongs to a known malware group and yet another has not received any transactions since 2013. The other six addresses are owned by individuals and companies, some of whom have already come forward to reveal their names.

The list includes the Winklevoss twins, who are among the biggest investors in Bitcoin. They have revealed they hold 1% of all bitcoins – which would give them $375 million worth of the digital currency.

The Winklevoss twins are among the biggest investors in Bitcoin

I am 100% confident the market will imminently crash and i will be there to buy an untraceable amount of bitcoins at the top. — John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 28, 2017

​John McAfee, founder of global computer security firm McAfee and Associates, has also revealed that he owns millions of dollars worth of bitcoin. He told MailOnline: 'I feel even more strongly that it's going higher. I have a lot of bitcoin.'

Others on the list include venture capitalist Tim Draper, who owns 1.1%, and an anonymous entity called Satoshi Nakamoto. The identity of this person is unknown as they have claimed to be a 40-year old American man living in Japan.

After getting rich in the stock market, Nakamoto has said that he holds 27 bitcoins – which are worth over $639 million at the time of writing. Other reports say that he owns up to a million bitcoins.

As more people get involved in Bitcoin, the issue of a single person owning the majority of the currency will come up again and again. It is easy to see why this might be a little concerning with it being possible to control the market in that way.