Crypto analytics company Chain.info revealed that around 10.6% of Bitcoin’s (BTC) total supply is in the hands of just five massive centralized exchanges. Over 1.96 million BTC, worth around $22.2 billion is split, although not equally, between Coinbase, Binance, OKEx, Huobi, and Kraken.
Coinbase currently holds the biggest amount of Bitcoin - 944,904 BTC, held between around 4.39 million wallet addresses. However, Coinbase’s custodial services may be the key reason for the accumulation of BTC.
Huobi comes second with 323,665 BTC, which is spread across around 901,600 wallets. Binance is third in line with 289,961 BTC held in close to 2.7 million addresses. OKEx and Kraken close the top-five, with 276,184 BTC 126,510 Bitcoin, which are held between 339,000 wallets and 672,000 wallets, respectively.
Looking at the BTC held in exchanges indicator, the next seven centralized crypto exchanges - Bitflyer, Bittrex, Bitfinex, Poloniex, Coincheck, Gate.io, and Bitstamp, hold around 210,000 Bitcoin altogether.
Chain.info’s data shows many crypto holders tend to accept the risks of holding a significant amount of crypto funds on exchanges, rather than managing them on their own, which is against the main mantra of cryptocurrencies of decentralization.
Meanwhile, Chainalysis reported that the numbers may be greater than 10%, because of the 3.7 million BTC that haven’t moved for over five years, which most likely have been lost. If the BTC holding is really lost, the percentage of Bitcoin in the hands of the five centralized platforms increases to fifteen percent.
Also, Chainalysis reported that nearly 60% of all Bitcoin holdings are currently held for investment purposes, closely mimicking the way investors buy gold. Chainalysis also noted that out of the total Bitcoin supply, only 19% of all mined Bitcoin is being used for trading purposes.
The research company emphasized that more and more users are switching from long-term investments to active trading, which may further increase the liquidity of Bitcoin. However, Chainalysis noted that such a scenario is only valid if Bitcoin prices rise to levels that will encourage investors to sell.