Bitcoin's Real Distribution and Latent Institutional Demand

CryptoOnchain analysts have provided updated data on the distribution of the Bitcoin (BTC) cryptocurrency, correcting errors in previous calculations. According to the latest CryptoOnchain report, a significant portion of the coins are concentrated in a few key categories, making the liquid supply much smaller than the total emission.

The largest share of Bitcoin is held by Tier-1 exchanges, which act as de facto institutional storage facilities. There are about 1.989 million BTC there. This category includes the holdings of spot ETFs like BlackRock IBIT and Fidelity FBTC, as well as corporate holdings from companies like Strategy. All of these assets are largely held through Coinbase Prime, making inflows and outflows on Tier-1 platforms a leading indicator of institutional sentiment.

A separate category is formed by the so-called historical and special addresses. These wallets contain approximately 1.096 million BTC, including the legendary Patoshi set associated with Satoshi Nakamoto. The coins have remained untouched for more than 10 years, which increases the deficit in the market and reduces the real number of assets available for trading.

A significant amount of bitcoins are also controlled by mining pools, with about 709.9 thousand BTC stored in their accounts. These reserves can be seen as a potential source of pressure on the market, as miners periodically lock in profits. At the same time, some coins are distributed among less structured categories – 437 thousand BTC belong to unspecified or small holders.

The remaining market segments include Tier 2 exchanges (165,000 BTC), brokers and financial services (154,700 BTC), as well as DeFi protocols and decentralized exchanges, where only 68,200 coins are stored. Institutional custodians hold only 8,000 BTC.

Source: cryptonews.net