According to data provided by BitInfoCharts, a post shared by @GRomePow on December 4th reveals that Bitcoin (BTC) addresses control only 0.04% of the circulating supply but hold 62% of the total supply, which is over 19.5 million according to 21milyon.com.
Economic critics are fueling debates on whether Bitcoin has fulfilled its promise of being a decentralized financial system. Satoshi Nakamoto’s goal was to introduce a free P2P electronic cash system, and its greatest feature was its decentralized structure.
Based on @GRomePow’s research, BitInfoCharts shows a growing gap between a small group known as “whales” who hold large amounts of BTC and individual investors with much smaller investments. The addresses with the largest accumulation hold 62% of the current circulating supply.
This distribution inequality has led some critics to argue that Bitcoin’s claim of being different from traditional financial systems and its claim of being decentralized are weakened. Despite being seen as a growing concern in the crypto market, Bitcoin advocates argue that the distribution of cryptocurrencies and decentralization are two different concepts.
They emphasize that investors’ ownership of BTC has no relation to the security or verification of the network. Companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla, which have accumulated billions of dollars worth of BTC over the years as part of their investment strategies, can be examples of such cases.