The cryptocurrency market has seen significant growth in recent years, with nearly a third of its circulating supply held by centralized entities. According to a report from Gemini and Glassnode, over 6,145,000 bitcoin worth more than $600 billion are held by institutional and custodial entities.
This represents a 30% concentration of the total circulating supply among just 216 entities, highlighting both increasing institutional adoption and deeper custodial centralization. The total bitcoin supply held by major institutions has surged by 924% over the past decade, with 101 public companies now holding bitcoin treasuries.
The report also notes that within this concentrated group, the two leading categories are centralized exchanges and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, experts have raised concerns about the concentration of assets among a few entities, particularly when it comes to debt financing and market volatility.
Some believe that this increased centralization could lead to a forced selling of large amounts of bitcoin, resulting in significant price implosions. Others see this trend as part of a broader process of increasing adoption for both bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets.
Source: https://sherwood.news/crypto/gemini-nearly-a-third-of-bitcoins-circulating-supply-is-held-by-centralized