Galaxy: Approximately 11.1 million bitcoins cannot be linked to known holders, accounting for 55% of the total mined amount

According to CoinDesk, a snapshot from Galaxy Research in October shows that out of approximately 21 million mined Bitcoins, about 11.1 million (approximately 55%) are held in addresses that cannot be linked to exchanges, funds, governments, or other known entities. Alex Thorn, the head of research at Galaxy, stated that this indicates that despite the increasing institutionalization, a significant amount of Bitcoin may still be self-custodied by individuals. Xapo Bank believes this reflects the fact that retail investors have been in the market for over a decade.

However, this portion of unallocated Bitcoin does not all belong to individuals who have been self-custodying for the long term; it may also include coins that are inaccessible due to lost private keys or the death of the holder, holdings from institutions or over-the-counter traders that Galaxy has not yet identified, as well as custodial assets spread across multiple addresses. The remaining 45% has been allocated, including ETFs from issuers like exchanges and BlackRock, as well as the U.S. government; among them, the single largest holder is "Satoshi Nakamoto (Patoshi model)," holding 1,123,658 BTC.