Bitcoin’s price has taken a hit since it hit its all-time high back in 2021, and as a result, the number of bitcoin millionaires has dwindled dramatically since then. These addresses holding more than $1 million in BTC peaked in November 2021 and have been on a steady decline since then.
Bitcoin Millionaires Suffer Losses
Back in November 2021, when the bitcoin bull market was in full bloom, the number of BTC millionaires had crossed 100,000 wallets. At its highest point, there were 108,886 wallets with more than $1 million worth of BTC in their balances, but according to data from BitInfoCharts, this number has dropped below 25,000.
At a current count of 24,533 millionaire wallets, more than 77% of bitcoin investors with the millionaire status have been wiped out in a little over a year. The majority of the losses came in the first half of 2022 and by June 2022, there were only a little over 26,000 BTC wallets with more than $1 million in their balances.
Wallets holding at least $10 million worth of BTC also took a hit during this time. It was sitting at only 3,852 at the time of this writing. However, smaller investors have been on the rise. According to a report from Glassnode, the number of BTC addresses holding higher than 0.1 and 1 BTC reached new all-time highs on Tuesday, January 10.
This marked accumulation from these smaller addresses shows that investors are not deterred by the decline in prices. But rather, are taking advantage of the low prices to increase their holdings.
BTC price holding steady above $17,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
BTC Profitability Declines As Well
The drop in the number of bitcoin millionaires is also in line with the decline in the profitability of the digital asset. Bitcoin started the year 2022 with only about a quarter of its investor seeing losses, but by January 2023, it has dropped drastically, and now only 51% of BTC investors are in profit.
Its large holder concentration has also dropped during this time. Only 10% of wallets are now classified as large holders, indicating a redistribution of BTC from whales to smaller holders. It also points to more decentralization with supply being more adequately distributed for market participants.
As for bitcoin’s price, it is still trading well below its all-time high price despite its recent recovery above $17,000. Data from Messari shows that the price of the digital asset is currently down more than 74% from its November 2021 high.
BTC is changing hands at $17,320 at the time of this writing. It is up 3.7% in the last week with a 24-hour trading volume of $16.2 billion.
Source: https://bitcoinist.com/77-of-bitcoin-millionaires-wiped-out/