Researchers at the Glassnode analytical service have found that bitcoin is not as centralized as it might seem at first glance. This is reported in the results of a study by the firm.
So, for example, analysts drew attention to the incorrect method of calculating the ownership of bitcoin.
“The problem with the reports is that they analyze the distribution of BTC across network addresses,” writes Glassnode.
In particular, researchers pay attention to two key aspects:
Not all Bitcoin addresses should be treated the same. For example, the address of the exchange where users’ funds are stored must be distinguished from the address of individual storage.
A Bitcoin address is not an “account”. One user can manage multiple addresses, and one address can contain funds of multiple users.
Analysts also divided cryptocurrency holders depending on the volume of assets:
Shrimp (<1 BTC).
Crabs (1-10 BTC).
Octopus (10-50 BTC).
Fish (50-100 BTC).
Dolphins (100-500 BTC).
Shark (500-1000 BTC).
Whales (1000-5000 BTC).
Humpback whales (>5000 BTC).
Cryptocurrency segregation
In the study, analysts separated the addresses of exchanges from the addresses of ordinary users. After calculating the distribution, Glassnode found that whales and humpback whales together control about 31% of the cryptocurrency supply.
The company believes that such large wallets may be funds, depositories or wealthy investors. However, smaller bitcoin holders (up to 50 BTC per wallet) also make up a significant part (almost 23% of the number of coins in circulation).
Analysts admit that the calculations are extremely superficial, and the true division of Bitcoin may be much more decentralized. In support of this theory, Glassnode noted that the sample did not take into account the accumulation of the Grayscale fund.
However, it is entirely possible that his assets fell into the category of whales. Also, the sample did not take into account lost coins and bitcoin tokenized on the basis of the Ethereum blockchain.
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