Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, predicts that Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, will likely no longer be the largest holder of Bitcoin by the end of this year.
US-based Bitcoin ETFs, which already hold 909,000 BTC, are set to overtake him. For example, BlackRock’s IBIT, with 347,767 coins alone, is now the third-largest Bitcoin holder.
“BlackRock is already ranked third and is on track to become the largest by the end of next year and is likely to retain that position for a long time,” Balchunas said.
The Vast Wealth of Satoshi Nakamoto
Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, is believed to own around 1.1 million Bitcoins. This vast fortune, which accounts for a significant portion of the total supply, is often seen as a potential risk to Bitcoin’s monetary stability.
However, there is no complete certainty about the exact number of coins that Satoshi owns. Some research, such as that of BitMEX Research, suggests that Satoshi may have fewer Bitcoins than commonly believed, possibly around 700,000 coins.
What complicates the situation is that the coins attributed to Satoshi have been untouched for over a decade. This leads to speculation that the Bitcoins may be lost forever, especially if the creator himself is deceased and no one has access to the private keys associated with them.
While it seems unlikely that Satoshi will ever sell en masse, there is a possibility that whoever controls this fortune has a dead man’s switch. If one day Satoshi’s family members decide to liquidate Bitcoins in bulk, it could have a serious impact on the market.
However, the possibility that this massive amount of Bitcoins is lost forever would also mean that the risk to the market is less than feared, and that Satoshi’s fortune will never affect the monetary integrity of Bitcoin.
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Source: https://newsbit.nl/satoshi-nakamoto-zal-na-dit-jaar-niet-meer-de-grootste-bitcoin-bezitter-zijn/
