As of December 12, around 90% of all the bitcoin that will ever exist is in circulation today, and the top five exchanges hold 1.6 million bitcoin. The bitcoin holdings on Coinbase, Binance, Huobi, Kraken, and Okex combined represent 7.96% of the 21 million bitcoin supply cap. The bitcoin held by Coinbase is a whopping 51% of the 1.6 million bitcoin or $41.6 billion using today’s exchange rates.
5 exchanges hold 1.6 million bitcoins worth $ 81 billion
At the time of writing, 90% of the 21 million bitcoin funding cap has been mined. Currently 18,899,800 BTC have been mined so far and in the near future 19 million bitcoins will be mined.
We also know that a decent fraction of bitcoin has been lost and Satoshi Nakamoto may have mined around 1.1 million BTC before leaving the bitcoin community. A study published by Coin Metrics on November 19, 2019, indicates that the assumed amount of lost coins was around 1.5 million at block height 600,000.
Today, five exchanges hold 1,673,460 bitcoins, or $ 81.6 billion using the current USD exchange rate. The five exchanges are Coinbase, Binance, Huobi, Kraken, and Okex and they all also hold a significant amount of ethereum. Coinbase holds 853,530 BTC according to metrics from Bituniverse, Peckshield, and Chain.info.
The company’s ether holdings are not disclosed but in terms of bitcoin, Coinbase holds 51% of the aggregate held on the top five exchanges. Binance holds 290,080 BTC or $14.1 billion and Binance also has a stash of 3.59 million ethereum worth $14.2 billion. Furthermore, Binance has 1.24 billion of tether (USDT) in reserves as well.
Top 10 Exchanges Retain 7% of $ 2.3 Trillion Crypto Economy
Huobi now has 160,950 BTC, 2.13 million ether, and 747 million USDT. Metrics show that Kraken has 102,900 BTC in reserves and 2.27 million ethereum. Finally, the fifth largest digital bureau de change in terms of BTC reserves, Okex, has around 266,530 bitcoins but only 248,840 ethereum.
Okex is followed by Gemini’s 116,000 BTC and 1.15 million ether, and Bitfinex’s 195,550 BTC and 353,660 ether in reserves. These exchanges are followed by Bittrex (48,110 BTC and 301,370 ether), Bitmex (111,650 BTC), and Bitflyer (75,030 BTC). Between the top five crypto exchanges, in terms of reserves, there’s $132.36 billion held on these platforms.
The combination of all reserves held on the top ten exchanges is approximately $ 165.89 billion. To a certain perspective, there is more crypto value on the top ten exchanges than the entire stable economy of $ 162.6 billion. In fact, funds held on the top ten crypto trading platforms represent around 7.07% of the $ 2.343 billion crypto economy.
