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The 5 biggest Bitcoin owners in the world

People who own at least 1,000 Bitcoin are known as as Bitcoin Whales

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Photo: Jose Cabezas (Reuters)

Ever since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin’s odyssey has mesmerized the public and attracted some colorful buyers. Even if you’re not an expert, you might have wondered who owns the world’s top cryptocurrency.

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Those who own at least 1,000 Bitcoin, whether they are individuals or corporations, are referred to as Bitcoin Whales. Most do not disclose how many coins they own, but a select few have come forward.

Here is a list of the individuals (not corporations or entities) who possess the most amount of Bitcoin.

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Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto

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Photo: Nacho Doce (Reuters)

The anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, reportedly possesses approximately 1 million Bitcoin, which are stored in multiple wallets. At the current price, the amount would be worth around $60 billion.

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Bitcoin has a maximum cap of 21 million, which makes Nakamoto one of the top Bitcoin owners.

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The Winklevoss Twins

The Winklevoss Twins

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Photo: Stephen Lam (Reuters)

The Winklevoss twins - Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss - are among the biggest names in the crypto sphere. In 2004, they accused Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their social networking idea, and after four years of litigation, they settled for $65 million from Zuckerberg.

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According to reports, some of the $65 million was used to buy Bitcoin, and the twins were the first prominent figures to publicly disclose that they had invested $11million into the cryptocurrency.

The twins acquired 1% of all Bitcoin in the world with that money, which at the time was worth $10 a piece, and became the first Bitcoin billionaires in 2017.

They are believed to own around 70,000 Bitcoin.

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Michael Saylor

Michael Saylor

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Photo: Marco Bello (Reuters)

Bitcoin-maximalist Michael Saylor is a former dot.com entrepreneur who once lost $6 billion in a day. He then tried his luck in Bitcoin, and his fortune has grown ever since.

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The founder of MicroStrategy, a business analytics software company, has been advocating and buying the top cryptocurrency. Saylor personally owns 17,000 Bitcoin which is worth $1.05 billion. His company MicroStrategy holds 214,400 Bitcoin which is 1% of total Bitcoin, as per the latest data.

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Tim Draper

Tim Draper

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Photo: Danny Moloshok (Reuters)

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and founding partner of venture capital firm Draper Fisher, Tim Draper purchased Bitcoin for the first time in 2012 and has been involved ever since.

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In 2014, he purchased 29,656 bitcoins from the U.S. Marshals for $18.7 million. The bitcoins were confiscated from the Silk Road black market and were bought at $632 per coin.

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Roger Ver

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Photo: Benoit Tessier (Reuters)

Early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver, also known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ who was recently charged $50 million in tax fraud, is one of the Bitcoin Whales.

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According to the latest indictment, Ver failed to report the 131,000 Bitcoins he owned in 2014 when he renounced his citizenship. Using this method, Ver is alleged to have underrepresented his Bitcoin holdings and evaded taxes.

At the moment, Bitcoin is trading at around $60,000, which means Ver’s 131,000 Bitcoins are worth over $8 billion.

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