Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, has predicted that Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, is likely to cease being the biggest holder of the leading cryptocurrency by the end of this year.
He will be surpassed by US-based Bitcoin exchange-traded funds that already hold a combined 909,000 coins.
In fact, BlackRock’s IBIT alone now holds 347,767 coins, which makes it the third-biggest holder of Bitcoin. “BlackRock alone is already #3 and on pace to be #1 late next year, and will likely stay there for a very long time,” Balchunas noted.
On Monday, Bitcoin ETFs attracted another $27.9 million worth of net inflows.
MicroStrategy, the US government, the Chinese government, and Robinhood are also among the biggest Bitcoin holders.
Satoshi’s mysterious wealth
Still, there are some debates about whether or not Satoshi actually owns 1.1 million coins. According to BitMEX Research, there is actually little evidence to support such a claim. In fact, a single dominant miner could generate “only” up to 700,000 Bitcoins, according to its analysis.
Satoshi’s massive Bitcoin fortune has always been considered a risk for the largest cryptocurrency since it could affect its monetary integrity.
The coins that are associated with the mysterious Bitcoin creator have not been moved in more than a decade. While it is unlikely that he eventually goes on a selling spree, it is still possible that whoever controls this fortune has a dead man’s switch. If one day some of Satoshi’s family members start liquidating Bitcoins en masse, this could prove to be a major issue for the market.