More than 11.1 million Bitcoin, equal to 55% of its circulating supply, cannot currently be linked to a recognised individual or institution, according to Galaxy Research.
The firm’s October ownership snapshot found that only about 45% of Bitcoin’s mined supply had been attributed to identifiable holders, including exchanges, Bitcoin ETFs, governments and early miners linked to the Satoshi era.
Galaxy head of research Alex Thorn said the figures indicated that individual investors may still control a significant share of Bitcoin through personal wallets rather than exchanges or financial institutions.
However, the 11.1 million BTC total also includes unidentified institutional wallets, early-mined coins and Bitcoin that may have been lost permanently. The research does not establish how much belongs to retail investors.
In an October post on X, Thorn noted that more than half of Bitcoin’s supply still had no known ownership attribution despite years of institutional adoption, the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs and the expansion of cryptocurrency custody services.
Why Bitcoin ownership is difficult to identify
All Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public blockchain, allowing wallet addresses, balances and transfers to be examined. But the identity of the person or organisation controlling an address is not automatically disclosed.
Research firms attribute major holdings by analysing transaction histories and linking addresses to exchanges, investment funds, governments and other entities through available records.
An unattributed address does not necessarily represent one individual. A person may control several wallets, while institutions can spread assets across multiple addresses or use custody arrangements that make ownership harder to establish.
Galaxy Research highlighted the difficulty in August when six dormant Bitcoin wallets transferred 553.59 BTC, worth approximately $40.15 million, after periods of inactivity ranging from nearly 12 to more than 15 years.
The wallets dated from 2011, 2012 and 2014, but researchers could not determine who controlled most of the addresses or why the coins had moved.
Institutional holdings and lost Bitcoin
Institutional ownership continues to grow. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust is among the largest identifiable holders, alongside other exchange-traded funds, cryptocurrency exchanges and government-controlled wallets.
Data on recent Bitcoin ETF holdings showed that BlackRock’s IBIT held approximately 814,263 BTC. The funds tracked by Lookonchain held a combined 1,284,312 BTC. Those figures, from 22 October, represented balances rather than daily inflows and outflows.
Traditional banks are also expanding cryptocurrency custody. An August report by crypto.news said Citigroup planned to introduce Bitcoin custody services before the end of 2026. BNY Mellon already provides custody for ETF issuers, while Coinbase Custody is a major provider for US spot cryptocurrency funds.
Galaxy separately identifies approximately 1,123,658 BTC associated with the Patoshi mining pattern, linked by researchers to Bitcoin’s earliest mining activity and commonly associated with its pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. That classification does not independently prove the miner’s real-world identity.
Xapo Bank said individuals had used Bitcoin for more than a decade before much of the financial industry entered the market, describing it as a system in which people can “be their own bank”.
But self-custody brings security risks. Casa chief security officer Jameson Lopp advised against abandoning personal custody after hardware wallet compromises and cryptocurrency thefts. In an October 22 letter, he recommended multisignature wallets and storing private keys across different devices and locations.
Lopp also said users needed plans for situations in which they could no longer manage their Bitcoin, while ETF investors could gain exposure to Bitcoin’s price without directly controlling the asset.
