Alex Thorn says 11.1 million Bitcoin sits in wallets with no known owner

Key points

• Galaxy Research classified about 11.1 million BTC, roughly 55% of the 20.1 million mined, as unattributed in its October snapshot.
• Alex Thorn, Galaxy's head of research, wrote on X that a large share of supply is still held by individuals in self-custody.
• The named 45% includes exchanges, BlackRock-led ETFs, the US government and the Satoshi-era Patoshi pattern at 1,123,658 BTC.

About 11.1 million Bitcoin has no known owner, according to Galaxy Research's October snapshot, which could not tie roughly 55% of the 20.1 million coins mined to an exchange, fund, government or other known entity. CoinDesk reports that the unattributed total may cover individual self-custody holders, institutions Galaxy has not identified, and coins whose owners have lost access.

Alex Thorn, Galaxy's head of research, said on X that more than half of all BTC supply sits in addresses with no known attribution despite years of institutional adoption. Xapo Bank replied to his post, saying retail investors have been in the market for over a decade and that others are still catching up.

The unnamed share is not necessarily long-term individual holdings.

Galaxy counts those coins separately. Bitcoin traded at $84,459.46 in the article.

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