New data shows individual investors still hold the majority of Bitcoin supply, outpacing institutions, corporations, funds, and government wallets.
The past few years have been filled with talk about how institutions have swallowed up the Bitcoin supply. Yet data shows that an overwhelming amount is still held by individuals.
Surprisingly, new data has shown that individuals still retain the most Bitcoin by market share. They hold significantly more than businesses, funds, and ETFS, and even Satoshi-era wallets. Over the past few years, there has been much speculation about the buy-and-hold tactics of corporations and institutions. Yet it may be individuals who are choosing to cling to their crypto.
Bitcoin’s current market segmentation
With the global geopolitical situation in turmoil, people have been flocking away from risk assets like cryptocurrency in droves. At the time of writing, Bitcoin price stands at $63,730. In the past five days, it has moved within a margin between $60,000 and $65,000, with little sign of breaching the upward curve. For many, this shows that people are not buying, but also not selling, creating stagnation. Yet it is those who hold cryptocurrencies that throw up the most surprises.
A recent study taken from public wallet data has shown that individuals hold 66% of the Bitcoin supply. Mapping wallets that are known to interact with exchanges, custodians, and large holders, it painted a picture of marginal institutional and corporate holdings. In contrast, only 7.8% was given over to businesses, with 7.2% in funds and ETFS. Satoshi-era wallets had 4.6%, while governments held only 2.1%.
Together, the entire institutional investment sector, incorporating businesses and trading bodies, only holds 15% of the supply. Accounting for the remainder, only 4.5% of Bitcoin is left to be mined. An estimated 7.7% of the remainder has been lost. That means 19% spans the other categories, with the rest, roughly two-thirds, held by private individuals.
The social media paradox
This also dispels a recent theory that a lack of social media chatter regarding Bitcoin and Ethereum has been driven by institutional adoption. In July, data was published that showed mentions of the two terms were at their lowest levels in two months on the platform X. Bitcoin mentions had dropped to around 130,000, while Ethereum had fallen to 40,000 per week.
Reports on the data highlighted this as a shift to institutional buying. In particular, many highlighted it as a regression to a time back in 2020, before the institutional era emerged. Yet the new data suggest that there may be other reasons at play, especially as institutions do not hold the amount that people believed.
Firstly, it could be that X is just losing users. This is a trend that has been ongoing, with 33 million users leaving between January 2024 and 2025. These people may have drifted to other places to discuss cryptocurrency. It could be on Reddit, or it could be on private messaging apps like Telegram.
It could also be that people are just going elsewhere for their information. With crypto more widely known about, people are more savvy. Regulatory announcements and the inflows and outflows of ETF products all provide better benchmarks than a speculator on X.
Lastly, crypto may not be as new and exciting as it once was. It has given way to talks about tokenization, and even AI has grabbed many of the headlines that it once promised as a harbinger of a brave new world. As it is no longer the coolest, newest cat in town, less is being spoken about it. By no means does this mean people have lost interest, but it simply signals that people are now accepting it.
How should this impact trading?
During periods of volatility, retail investors are often prone to more emotional trading. They can sell and buy fast, as opposed to companies that have to make long-term decisions, signed off by many people. This has mainly been the reason given for Bitcoin’s current stagnation.
Yet it seems that the opposite is true and that retail investors are actually building resilience. HODL is the sector name for “Hold on for dear life,” which means you keep hold of Bitcoin until it grows exponentially in value. Many investors have held on through tumultuous market cycles. In fact, whales who are private buyers who hold large amounts can often change market courses if they begin to buy up or even dump their cryptocurrency. This suggests that they still do play a huge part in the direction prices can take.
What this does show is that despite what media outlets and those in the crypto industry are saying, the field is still extremely decentralized. For all the hype of institutional adoption and government backing, Bitcoin, particularly, is still held by individuals. Those wanting to see how this changes in the near future must watch inflows and outflows to ETF products, as well as changes to government legislation, not just in the US but beyond.
