Number of Whales (≥1k BTC)
- 1M1M
- 3M3M
- 6M6M
- 1Y1Y
- ALLALL
- LinearLinear
- LogLog
About this metric
What it measures
Number of Whales counts entities with an estimated combined balance of at least 1,000 BTC after addresses under common control are grouped. The unit is entities, not BTC, addresses or individual transfers.
How to read it
A rising count means more entities meet the 1,000 BTC threshold, while a falling count means fewer do. The series peaked at 1,902 on June 29, 2016 and recorded 1,409 on October 17, 2026. Changes describe membership of the large-holder cohort, not the total amount of BTC held by that cohort.
An entity near the cutoff can join or leave after a small transfer, and splitting, merging or relabeling clusters can alter the count without new investment. Custodial control is not the same as beneficial ownership, and a BTC-denominated cutoff has a changing dollar value. More whales therefore does not automatically mean stronger demand.
- Frequency
- Daily (UTC 00:00)
- Asset
- BTC
- Category
- Entities
- Type
- Single value
- Data since
- 2009-01-03
- Latest data
- 2026-10-27
FAQ
What is a Bitcoin whale in this chart?
An entity whose combined estimated holdings are at least 1,000 BTC. Several addresses can belong to one entity, so an address-level count at the same threshold can differ.
Can the whale count rise without total whale holdings increasing?
Yes. An entity just below 1,000 BTC can cross the cutoff, or clustering changes can split holdings into more qualifying entities. The count and the cohort’s total BTC measure different things.
Does a higher BTC price create more whales in this series?
Not by itself. The threshold is fixed in BTC, not dollars, so a price rise changes the value of qualifying holdings without changing whether a given BTC balance meets the cutoff.
