Individuals hold 66.1% of bitcoin’s supply, while businesses and funds together control just 15%, according to asset manager Bitwise. The breakdown cuts against years of coverage framing Wall Street as bitcoin’s new owner. It lands as ETF flows swing back toward inflows after a record redemption streak.
Retail investors, not institutions, still own most of bitcoin. Individuals hold 66.1% of the total supply, against 7.8% for businesses and 7.2% for funds and exchange-traded funds, according to a breakdown shared Monday by Bitwise. The asset manager, which runs one of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, built the picture from public wallet data, onchain analysis and disclosures from public companies and fund managers.
Institutions control a combined 15%
Put together, the entire institutional complex holds about 15% of the supply — the 7.8% held by businesses plus the 7.2% in investment vehicles. The remaining roughly 19% spans governments, miners, unaccounted wallets and other categories. Bitwise flagged limits in its method, noting that multi-signature wallets and pooled custody can obscure who actually owns the coins behind an address.
The finding runs against the dominant narrative of recent years. Despite heavy coverage of corporate treasuries, government accumulation and Wall Street ETF launches, roughly two-thirds of all bitcoin still sits with individuals.
ETF flows turn after a record outflow run
Institutional holdings have grown since spot bitcoin ETFs debuted in the United States in January 2024, yet the flows behind that fund share stay volatile. Last week, U.S. spot bitcoin and ether ETFs snapped an eight-week outflow streak with $282 million in combined inflows, the longest run of redemptions since the products launched. Bitcoin funds took in $197.4 million and ether funds $84.4 million, a modest reversal after the prior streak drained about $9.46 billion from the two product classes.
By contrast, the individual majority has historically been stickier, a base of holders that onchain analysts credit with absorbing supply through notable slumps.
Why the split matters now
The number to watch is the fund share. If ETF demand picks up, that 7.2% slice could grind higher and test how durable retail’s two-thirds majority really is. For now, the data holds up the industry’s decentralization case: bitcoin’s ownership stays dispersed across tens of millions of individuals seventeen years into its existence, even as regulated products make institutional access easy.
Source: Bitcoin News
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