Only 0.01% of the Global Population Holds 1 Bitcoin or More, River Estimates

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Only 0.01% of the Global Population Holds 1 Bitcoin or More, River Estimates

According to a new estimate from U.S. Bitcoin financial services firm River, roughly 825,000 people worldwide hold at least one whole Bitcoin (BTC). That figure represents approximately 0.01% of the global population, or about one person in every 10,000.

How River Derived the Estimate

River’s analysis began with approximately 972,000 on-chain addresses containing at least 1 BTC. The firm then excluded addresses managed by companies, governments, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and cryptocurrency exchanges, which can hold assets for millions of users. To account for individual exchange customers who own 1 BTC or more, River assumed that the distribution of Bitcoin holdings among exchange users mirrors the distribution observed on-chain. Based on this methodology, River concluded that the number of individual holders with at least 1 BTC is around 825,000, with a plausible range of 600,000 to 1 million.

Why This Matters for Bitcoin’s Scarcity Narrative

Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins, and as of early 2025, over 19 million BTC have been mined. The estimate that fewer than a million individuals control a full coin or more underscores the asset’s scarcity. This concentration has implications for both retail and institutional investors, as well as for Bitcoin’s long-term value proposition. For context, the number of people holding at least 1 BTC is smaller than the population of many mid-sized cities, such as Frankfurt, Germany, or Atlanta, Georgia.