Bitcoin is approaching the $100,000 mark, and its market cap is set to hit $2 trillion.
Wow — massive numbers! If you’ve been following the crypto market since its early days in 2009, you’ll remember when Bitcoin was used to buy pizzas, and some dismissed it as worthless. What a journey it’s been!
Of course, the Trump win is contributing to this price rally. At this point, Bitcoin almost feels like an entire nation growing at an unprecedented rate.
The obvious answer: Bitcoin holders. Specifically, the biggest Bitcoin holder of all — Satoshi Nakamoto — who has now entered the ranks of the world’s top 20 richest individuals.
But here’s the real question: Can Satoshi Nakamoto become the world’s richest person?
The answer isn’t straightforward. Let’s break it down.
The current method to measure wealth is through measuring shareholding and the assets that a person has.
For example, Elon Musk, owner of many companies, mainly three, where most of his wealth comes from, made him the richest person on the planet.
He uses his wealth to buy many companies, raise capital for his next venture, and do many more stuff.
When it comes to Bitcoin, the creator Satoshi Nakamoto holds a large amount of Bitcoin, approximately over 1.1 million Bitcoins now closing to be in a $100 billion club.
The question is, what is the use of holding that much Bitcoin? Not only for Satoshi, what if you hold that much Bitcoin? Would you buy Twitter for $44 billion and change its name?
No, you can’t because the world doesn’t work that way, and still value paper wealth, Why? Because the current Financial system is designed to value utility.
Let’s understand this in a simple manner: you can borrow a loan over your property, and by pleading the property records, this means you’re still the owner of the property, and you have the rental or other income generated from it which helps you to payback the loan same goes with the shares.
In the case of crypto assets, the current system sees it as a store of value or internet gold.
Yes, you may argue that now there are ETFs, Lending, and staking protocols offering good returns. Yet they don’t match the size or the return you get from stocks or bonds.
The whole financial system reminds me of a video of comedian Trevor Noah explaining how weird Elon Musk’s Buying Twitter is:
It is how the current financial system works, can you imagine scenarios like these happening with Bitcoin? In the current scenario, it is not.
This means no one can be the Richest Person from Bitcoin.
The answer is. Yes, we might see the Richest person in the world from Bitcoin.
The current largest Bitcoin holder is none other than the creator Satoshi Nakamoto, holding 1.1 million Bitcoins and is the first one in the race.
Other than Satoshi, asset management companies like Black Rock and Grayscale and crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Binance hold an insignificant amount of Bitcoin.
The important individuals include Satoshi Nakamoto, the Winklevoss twins, and Tim Draper, among others. However, the clear front-runner is Satoshi Nakamoto.
Who knows, after becoming the world’s richest, Satoshi came to open and donate all the Bitcoin!
While the current system measures wealth differently, making it difficult for anyone to become the world’s richest person solely through Bitcoin, the landscape may shift in the future.
Crypto’s influence on wealth calculation is undeniable. Those with significant “paper wealth” are already incorporating cryptocurrencies into their portfolios, further enhancing their financial standing.
Bitcoin’s journey isn’t just about wealth — it’s about reshaping how we perceive and measure it.
