Holders of Virtual Currency Worth Over $1 Million (1.3 Billion KRW)
Bitcoin Owners Number 85,400, Up 111% in One Year
The number of cryptocurrency millionaires worldwide has nearly doubled over the past year due to the rally in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin.
According to the 'Crypto Asset Report 2024' released on the 27th (local time) by UK investment immigration consulting firm Henley & Partners, as of the end of June this year, there were 172,300 crypto asset holders with over $1 million (approximately 1.3 billion KRW) in cryptocurrency, a 95% increase compared to the same period last year. About half of them, 85,400, were confirmed to be holders of the 'blue chip' Bitcoin. During the same period, the number of Bitcoin millionaires increased by 111%.
Among these millionaires, 325 people held more than $100 million worth of cryptocurrency, and 28 people worldwide held more than $1 billion worth. These figures represent increases of 79% and 27%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Bitcoin's price, which was around $30,000 as of June last year, has continued its upward trajectory this year. Ahead of the halving event in March, it briefly surpassed $73,000. Bitcoin, which has risen about 35% this year, was trading around $59,450 per coin as of 1:45 PM on the day.
Henry Burrows, CEO of Hoptrail, a cryptocurrency-related company, stated, "While previous generations generally accumulated wealth through real estate and stocks, today wealth is created through Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), mining, and staking," adding, "In most cases, enormous profits are generated from relatively small initial capital."
Dominic Volek, Head of the Private Client Group at Henley & Partners, explained the background of the rise in cryptocurrency value, saying, "The long-awaited approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. has accelerated institutional capital inflows," and added, "There is growing expectation that Solana ETFs will also join Wall Street's party in the future." He also noted that inquiries from crypto asset holders seeking alternative residences and citizenships outside their current countries have significantly increased this year, with Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) being preferred destinations. All three share the common feature of not imposing capital gains tax.
Meanwhile, economic media MarketWatch, citing previous foreign reports and studies, reported that Satoshi Nakamoto, known as the creator of Bitcoin, is the largest Bitcoin holder with an estimated value of $50 billion. Zhao Changpeng, founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, reportedly holds $39 billion worth of Binance Coin (BNB), and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, founders of Gemini, are known to hold 70,000 Bitcoins worth approximately $3.3 billion.
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