People who hold at least 1,000 Bitcoins are known as Bitcoin whales.
Since its creation in 2009, Bitcoin's odyssey has fascinated the public and attracted a variety of buyers. Even if you're not an expert, you might want to know who holds the world's top cryptocurrency.
Those who hold at least 1,000 Bitcoins, whether individuals or companies, are known as Bitcoin whales. Most won't reveal how many Bitcoins they hold, but a few have come forward.
Here is a list of individuals (not companies or entities) who hold the largest number of Bitcoins.
It is reported that Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, holds about 1 million Bitcoins, which are stored in multiple wallets. At current prices, it is worth about $60 billion.
Bitcoin is capped at 21 million, making Satoshi one of the top holders.
The Winklevoss twins -- Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss -- are among the most prominent figures in the cryptocurrency space. In 2004, they accused Zuckerberg of stealing their social network idea, and after four years of litigation, they received $65 million in damages from Zuckerberg.
Some of the $65 million was reportedly used to buy Bitcoin, and the twins were the first high-profile people to publicly disclose that they had invested $11 million in cryptocurrencies.
The twins used the money to acquire 1% of all Bitcoins in the world, which were worth $10 each at the time, and became the first Bitcoin billionaires in 2017.
It is understood that they hold about 70,000 Bitcoins.
Bitcoin believer Michael Saylor was once an Internet entrepreneur who lost $6 billion in a day. After that, he tried his luck on Bitcoin and his wealth has continued to grow since then.
The founder of business analytics software company MicroStrategy has been advocating and buying top cryptocurrencies. Saylor personally holds 17,000 Bitcoins, worth $1.05 billion. According to the latest data, his company MicroStrategy holds 214,400 Bitcoins, accounting for 1% of the total Bitcoin.
Silicon Valley entrepreneur and founding partner of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Tim Draper first bought Bitcoin in 2012 and has been involved ever since.
In 2014, he purchased 29,656 Bitcoins from the U.S. Marshals for $18.7 million. These Bitcoins were confiscated from the Silk Road black market and bought at $632 each.
Early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver, also known as "Bitcoin Jesus," was recently charged with $50 million in tax fraud and is one of the Bitcoin "whales."
According to the latest indictment, Ver did not report his ownership of 131,000 bitcoins when he renounced his citizenship in 2014. Ver allegedly used this method to underreport his bitcoin holdings and evade taxes.
Currently, bitcoin is trading at around $60,000, which means Ver's 131,000 bitcoins are worth more than $8 billion.