Investment banks like Grayscale, BlackRock and Fidelity, are pouring billions of dollars into buying the volatile digital asset.Because of Bitcoin's system there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins.So what other organisations or individuals are Bitcoin whales, and what does the shift in wealth mean for the digital currency that was originally created as a peer-to-peer internet money?
A loose estimate that's often agreed upon is 3.5 million. But 1.1 million of those dormant coins are likely to belong to the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, so we can take that portion out of the equation. A conservative estimate for lost coins therefore is about 2.4 million, or 11% of all bitcoins.Cryptocurrency exchanges act like banks for crypto-users. You can exchange your traditional money like dollars or pounds for Bitcoin and other digital tokens. K33 researchers estimate that about 2.
According to K33 Research, 933,000 coins had already been allocated or purchased by 29 February, and are currently being held by the banks for these new financial products. K33 analysts think that the biggest holder is Grayscale, which started as a digital currency investment bank. It is estimated to have around 450,000 bitcoins. Other giants include BlackRock and Fidelity .