As a result of the increasing volatility and subsequent decline in the value of the cryptocurrency market over the last three months, the number of Bitcoin (BTC) millionaires has been reduced by a significant margin. Data acquired by Finbold indicates that as of January 26, 2022, addresses with a Bitcoin balance of over $1 million stands at 87,953 addresses. Roughly 7,008 of the addresses each have a balance of about $10 million. The remaining 80,945 addresses have a balance amounting to $1 million each.
Notably, the number of Bitcoin millionaires has decreased dramatically during the last three months. Compared to October 28, 2021, when 116,139 addresses were declared Bitcoin millionaires, 105,820 had a balance of at least $1 million, and 10,319 had a balance no less than $10 million. According to the findings, the number of Bitcoin millionaires has decreased by 28,186 between the two dates a total of 24.26%.
Elsewhere, it is also worth noting that the number of BTC addresses with more than $100,000 reduced by 30.04% between October and January, decreasing from 505,711 to 353,763.
Why is there such a decrease?
A combination of factors such as regulatory scrutiny, turbulent markets, geopolitical unrest, and COVID combined to have an adverse effect on the asset’s performance. However, despite the volatile start to the year, a number of analysts continue to laud the asset as a hedge against rising inflation.
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that the value of Bitcoin had decreased substantially since October 28, when the flagship digital asset was trading around $61,000. At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $37,851, up 3.94% on the day, and although it’s starting to show signs of reclaiming $38,000, it’s priced significantly less than three months earlier.
One reason the market may be seeing fewer Bitcoin millionaires today than in October is that the value of BTC has decreased. Cryptocurrency traders and investors may continue to hold the same amount of cryptocurrency as before; only the value in USD has declined.
Due to the rapid decline in the value of Bitcoin since the start of the year, the number of liquidations has also increased in recent weeks, with $372 million in long positions in the perpetual market across all exchanges being liquidated in only one day, January 22.
Bitcoin millionaires on the decline
In February 2021, we reported 100,000 Bitcoin addresses were holding over $1 million, and now despite the increased adoption of the cryptocurrency, that number has reduced.
Given the anonymous nature of the world’s most valuable digital asset, it is difficult to identify the individuals who possess the addresses in question.
There is a strong possibility that the Bitcoin addresses with more than $1 million in Bitcoin belong to investors with large capital streams, such as institutions or extremely early adopters. At the same time, it’s also important to note that a single Bitcoin holder can have multiple Bitcoin addresses.
