Arkham, a leading blockchain intelligence platform, recently discovered that the prominent cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is in possession of nearly 1 million Bitcoin (BTC), equivalent to more than $25 billion based on the current market rates, with BTC ticking down at $26,579.
This revelation comes as Bitcoin’s circulating supply reaches approximately 19,493,537 according to the statistics provided by CoinGecko.
This revelation means that Coinbase holds a significant 5% of all existing Bitcoin, with a total of 947,755 BTC in its wallets. Arkham further identified and tagged 36 million Bitcoin deposit and holding addresses associated with the exchange.
The intelligence firm also highlighted that Coinbase’s largest cold wallet contains around 10,000 BTC. Based on the comprehensive financial reports scrutinized, Arkham speculates that Coinbase might possess additional Bitcoin that are yet to be labeled and identified.
Arkham has now identified $25B of Coinbase Bitcoin reserves (~1M BTC) on chain.
This makes Coinbase the largest Bitcoin entity in the world on Arkham, with almost 5% of all BTC in existence – about as much as Satoshi Nakamoto. pic.twitter.com/7sDOczS7WT
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) September 22, 2023
While the exchange boasts over $25 billion in BTC, it’s important to note that Coinbase only owns approximately 10,000 of all the Bitcoin it holds, translating to a valuation of around $200 million.
Some members view this substantial holding as a warning sign, suggesting others withdraw their BTC from exchanges before potential halting of withdrawals.
Others argue that, given the legitimate concerns surrounding cold wallets, finding a secure way to store assets remains a challenge.
MicroStrategy, a business intelligence company, continues to lead in terms of Bitcoin ownership by companies. As of August 1, co-founder Michael Saylor confirmed the company’s possession of 152,800 BTC, valued at over $4 billion.