[Bitcoin Now] Hesitating Around 75 Million Won... Monopoly Issue Emerges

Top 10,000 Investors Hold One-Third of Circulating Bitcoin
Tesla Indicates Reintroduction of Bitcoin Payment System

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The representative cryptocurrency Bitcoin remains in the 75 million KRW range. Meanwhile, a monopoly issue has arisen as it is known that the top 10,000 investors hold about one-third of the Bitcoins circulating in the market.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 2:58 PM on the 26th, Bitcoin recorded 75.24 million KRW, down 1.25% from the previous day. Although it seemed to break away from the 75 million KRW range with a 2.28% rebound the day before, it is showing a sluggish trend again. It rose to 81.75 million KRW on the 20th but has seen little change since then, staying in the mid-70 million KRW range.

In this situation, the Bitcoin monopoly issue has surfaced. According to the U.S. economic media Bloomberg on the 25th (local time), the U.S. private think tank National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) revealed that the top 10,000 investors hold about one-third of the Bitcoins circulating in the market. As of the end of last year, brokers hold 5.5 million Bitcoins, and individuals hold 8.5 million Bitcoins. The total issuance of Bitcoin is 21 million. Additionally, among individual investors, the top 1,000 hold 3 million Bitcoins. This amounts to approximately 22.6 billion KRW as of that day.

NBER stated that it identified Bitcoin ownership by distinguishing between Bitcoin addresses of individuals and brokers. Although it has been pointed out that a small number of people hold most Bitcoins, it was difficult to clearly distinguish Bitcoin ownership because brokers were involved in Bitcoin transactions.

Mining power concentration is even more severe. The top 10% of miners hold 90% of the total mining power. Moreover, the top 0.1%, consisting of only about 50 people, account for 50% of the mining power.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, there is also an opinion that Tesla may reintroduce the Bitcoin payment system. According to the cryptocurrency specialized media Cointelegraph on the 25th, Tesla reportedly included in a report submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last September that “it may resume the Bitcoin payment system in the future.” Furthermore, Tesla explained that it plans to continue using Bitcoin as a long-term measure to respond to liquidity.

Tesla was one of the most watched companies in the cryptocurrency industry in the first half of this year. This was because Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, made continuous pro-Bitcoin remarks. Thanks to this, Bitcoin rose to an all-time high of 81.99 million KRW. However, when CEO Musk announced in May that Tesla would suspend the Bitcoin payment system due to environmental concerns, Bitcoin began to plummet, dropping 10.73% in a single day.