Bitcoin, that thing, is destined to have a hard cap of 21 million coins — as of today (November 29, 2025), we've already mined about 19.68 million, and the remaining 'tail' of mining will drag on until 2140 to fully come out. Sounds fair, right? Everyone has a chance to mine. But in reality, over a decade ago, this big pie was already divided up by a few big players. The first time I looked at the on-chain data, I thought this isn't a game; it's a hunt.

First, let's talk about that never-ending legend: Satoshi Nakamoto's hidden 1.1 million 'ghost coins.' This founder vanished from the earth 15 years ago, and these coins, mined from the genesis blocks of 2009-2010, haven't moved a single satoshi. At $91,000 per coin now, this stash is worth over $100 billion, enough to squeeze into the global top ten richest. The on-chain traces are too obvious (that's the Patoshi pattern), and whoever touches it is in trouble — if that address ever moves one day, the whole market is bound to crash. I always wonder, if he really came back, would he first tweet, 'Guys, I was just out walking the dog'?

Now, let's chat about those behemoths in the deep sea: There are 1,384 addresses holding over 1,000 coins each, controlling nearly 18% of the circulating supply. Only a few old-timers show their faces — like Michael Saylor, this guy's personally holding 17,000, and his company has stuffed in 649,000 more, totaling over 650,000, making him the 'mad king' of the Bitcoin world. The Winklevoss twins have at least 70,000 to start with, Tim Draper picked up 30,000 leaks from the Silk Road auction back then, and now his unrealized gains are at least $3 billion. What about the other 99%? Pure anonymous ghosts; a single transfer of tens of thousands of coins can scare retail investors out of their wits, while they quietly hoard in the shadows. It's creepy just thinking about it; last time I saw a 20,000-coin anonymous transfer, the forums exploded.

Wall Street's reapers are even more ruthless: Spot ETFs have already swallowed 1.47 million coins, accounting for 7% of circulation. BlackRock dominates with 746,000 alone, Fidelity has 199,000, Grayscale 187,000. Net inflows this year are nearly $20 billion, and even Harvard's pension fund couldn't resist, stuffing BlackRock's ETF into its top three holdings.

On the listed companies side, over 150 global firms hold a combined 950,000 coins — MicroStrategy (oh, now called Strategy) has aggressively amassed 638,000, accounting for 90% of its market cap! MARA has 52,000, XXI 43,000, Japan's Metaplanet 20,000... In the first three quarters, companies' buying speed crushed the ETFs; I even suspect they've secretly gotten alien tech, like perpetual motion machines.

Private companies' dark pools are even more mysterious: Block.one (EOS's home) has 164,000, Tether 87,000. No disclosure obligations, so the real numbers are surely higher.

The national teams are in the game too — the US government holds 326,000 (mostly spoils from busting dark ops), Trump's March executive order directly established the 'US Bitcoin Reserve,' vowing not to sell. China has 190,000 (PlusToken mess), UK 61,000, El Salvador 6,274 coins (volcano geothermal mining + daily DCA). Global governments together exceed 460,000 and are still adding more.

Exchange custody pools are the most deceptive: Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and the like are holding 2.9 million for retail, 14.5% of circulation. It looks dispersed, but one collapse means a massacre — FTX's tragedy is still fresh.

Finally, the gut-punching truth: Long-term holders (over 1 year unmoved) account for 70%, institutions + governments + whales 25%, and truly liquid chips? Less than 30%.

The conclusion is simple and brutal: You think you're betting against retail? Wrong! You're at a poker table with BlackRock, Saylor, the US government, and Satoshi's ghost. One cough from them, and you're in the ICU. This 21 million game was never about getting in early; it's about who can endure the longest. The chain has already written the answer: Retail shouts slogans, institutions and governments rewrite the rules. Your bitcoins aren't fighting thin air; they're playing chess with the world's top players. Want to survive longer? Two paths — either join their side, or train your own iron stomach. (Data on-chain real-time, trends primary, don't take as gospel)