While most Bitcoin remains in the hands of retail investors, institutions are steadily narrowing the gap, according to new data.

River Study: Retail Still Dominates Bitcoin Ownership, but Institutional Share Expands

Bitcoin remains primarily in the hands of individuals, though institutional investors are gradually increasing their presence, according to new research from U.S.-based bitcoin financial services firm River.

In its Aug. 25 report, River broke down ownership of the 21 million-coin supply using public filings, custodial address tagging, and blockchain heuristics. The findings suggest:

Individuals hold the majority, with about 65.9% of supply (≈13.83M BTC) spread across self-custodied wallets and exchange accounts.
ETFs and investment funds account for 7.8% (≈1.63M BTC).
Businesses, including corporate treasuries and firms that disclose BTC holdings, hold 6.2% (≈1.30M BTC).
Governments control 1.5% (≈306K BTC) through identified sovereign addresses.

Other notable categories include:

Lost coins, estimated at 7.6% (≈1.58M BTC), inferred from coins dormant for many years.
Satoshi/Patoshi holdings, pegged at 4.6% (≈968K BTC) based on early mining activity.
Unmined supply, at 5.2% (≈1.09M BTC) remaining until the hard cap is reached.

River cautioned that its figures are estimates, since custodians aggregate multiple clients and wallet classification remains imperfect.

Still, the trend is clear: while individuals remain the dominant owners of bitcoin, the institutional footprint is widening, driven by the growth of ETFs, corporate balance-sheet allocations, and sovereign reserves.