Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States could soon own more cryptocurrency than Satoshi Nakamoto, the unknown creator of
Bitcoin (BTC).
The combined Bitcoin holdings of these ETFs stand at 909,700 BTC, valued at approximately $55.1 billion. This indicates that they are quickly approaching Nakamoto's estimated stash of 1.1 million BTC. This substantial portion of Bitcoin was mined by the anonymous creator during the early lifecycle of Bitcoin and has been inactive since Nakamoto disappeared over a decade ago.
On average, Bitcoin ETFs accumulate about 37,510 additional BTC per month, and at the current pace, it is predicted they may surpass Nakamoto's holdings as early as January next year, marking one year since they first became operational.
Identifying the exact amount of Bitcoin that Nakamoto possesses has proven challenging. This is because Nakamoto routinely used a new wallet to receive the 50 BTC reward from every mined block during the early stages of Bitcoin, when mining was much less demanding than it is today.