The Crypto Wealth Report 2024 reveals that there has been a big surge in Bitcoin millionaires over the past year, rising 85,400. The report also revealed a 79% increase in crypto centi-millionaires and the creation of six new crypto billionaires. Bitcoin’s price surge, driven by the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, has been a key factor in this wealth growth. Meanwhile, institutional adoption continues to rise, with companies like Semler Scientific increasing their Bitcoin holdings.
Crypto Millionaire Boom
The number of Bitcoin (BTC) millionaires surged by 111% over the past year. According to the Crypto Wealth Report 2024 from Henley and Partners, 85,400 people now hold more than $1 million in Bitcoin as of July 30, 2024. Additionally, the overall number of cryptocurrency millionaires also saw an impressive rise to 172,300 people. This is a 95% increase from the 88,200 in the previous year.
Worldwide crypto wealth statistics (Source: Henley & Partners)
In addition to the rise in millionaires, the number of crypto centi-millionaires, who are people holding over $100 million in crypto, also grew by 79%, bringing the total to 325. Crypto wealth also expanded with the creation of six new crypto billionaires, increasing the total number of billionaires in the sector to 28.
These statistics were measured from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024 by using a combination of in-house wealth tier models and open-source data from major cryptocurrency platforms like CoinMarketCap, Binance, BscScan, and Etherscan.
Andrew Amoils, the head of research at New World Wealth, shared that while the most growth was in the ”millionaire band,” the rise in billionaires was predominantly driven by Bitcoin. In fact, he revealed that five of the six new crypto billionaires were Bitcoin holders.
The surge in Bitcoin’s price, which has risen 142% over the past year from $26,100 to $63,100, has been a key factor in this wealth increase. Dominic Volek, head of private clients at Henley and Partners, attributed most of this growth to the introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as these products have seen very impressive inflows since their launch.
Bitcoin Funds See Eighth Day of Positive Flows
Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. experienced a strong influx of capital on Monday, with $202.51 million in total daily net inflows recorded. This was the eighth consecutive day of positive flows. Over the past eight trading days, the 12 Bitcoin funds have attracted $756 million in net inflows.
Bitcoin ETF flow (Source: Farside Investors)
BlackRock’s IBIT led the way on Monday, and drew in $224.06 million. It was also the fund’s largest daily inflow since July 22. Some of the other inflows included Franklin Templeton’s EZBC with $5.52 million and WisdomTree’s BTCW with $5 million.
However, not all funds fared well. Bitwise’s BITB recorded outflows of $16.61 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $8.33 million in outflows, and VanEck’s HODL, which saw $7.18 million exit the fund. Six other funds, including Grayscale’s GBTC, reported zero flows for the day.
Despite the inflows, trading volume for the spot Bitcoin funds decreased to $1.2 billion on Monday, down from $3.12 billion last Friday. Since their launch in January, these funds have accumulated total net inflows of $18.08 billion.
Ethereum ETF flow (Source: Farside Investors)
U.S. spot Ether funds were hit with more outflows on Monday, making it their eighth consecutive day of negative flows. Ether funds saw $13.23 million in net outflows, led by Grayscale’s ETHE which reported $9.52 million in outflows. Fidelity’s FETH followed with $2.69 million, and Franklin Templeton recorded $1.02 million in net outflows. No spot Ether ETFs recorded positive flows on Monday. The trading volume for spot Ether funds reached $125.73 million on Monday, and they have accumulated total net outflows of $477.88 million.
”Batshit Season” Could Drive Bitcoin to New Highs
Bitcoin may be on the verge of entering a phase that is referred to as “batshit season,” with the potential for its price to surge as high as $150,000 by the end of 2024, according to Real Vision analyst Jamie Coutts. In an Aug. 26 post on X, Coutts suggested that Bitcoin’s price action is still on track to follow historical bull market patterns, where it previously reached new all-time highs within 365 days after peaks in the US Dollar Index. Based on these trends, Coutts believes Bitcoin could more than double from its current price of approximately $62,000.
However, not all analysts share this optimism in the short term. A research note from CryptoQuant’s analyst “XBTManager” pointed to a potential overhang from short-term sellers who have become more active recently. On Aug. 27, XBTManager pointed out that 33,155 Bitcoin had been transferred by short-term holders, which could create immediate selling pressure and potentially trigger a pullback in Bitcoin’s price. He also warned that a sell-off could intensify if these figures rise in the coming days.
Bitcoin spent output age bands (Source: CryptoQuant)
Despite Bitcoin’s recent rally on Aug. 23, many Bitcoin derivatives traders are also still a bit skeptical. The Bitcoin futures premium, a critical indicator of risk appetite in the derivatives market, has stagnated at around 6% for the past month. This indicates that professional traders are still cautious about opening leveraged long positions.
Semler Scientific Buys More Bitcoin
Semler Scientific has increased its Bitcoin holdings yet again by buying an additional 83 BTC for $5 million. Its total cryptocurrency reserves now stand at 1,012 BTC, which was bought at a total cost of $68 million.
This move is part of the growing trend among companies to adopt Bitcoin as a key part of their treasury asset portfolio, a strategy popularized by MicroStrategy.
Eric Semler, chairman of Semler Scientific, shared that the company is committed to Bitcoin, especially considering the increasing institutional adoption of the cryptocurrency. He also shared that institutions now hold more than 20% of Bitcoin ETFs’ assets under management.
Semler Scientific first added Bitcoin to its balance sheet in May of 2024 with the purchase of 654 BTC for $40 million. This was followed by other acquisitions, including 247 BTC in June and 101 BTC earlier this month.
Semler Scientific’s growing Bitcoin reserves is certainly a reflection of the broader trend of institutional interest in cryptocurrency. Data from CoinGecko shows that 29 publicly traded companies worldwide collectively hold more than 320,000 BTC as part of their corporate treasury, with MicroStrategy leading the pack.
Bitcoin holdings by public companies (Source: CoinGecko)
This trend is expected to continue, driven by the approval of Bitcoin-based ETFs and increasing regulatory support for digital assets. Institutional interest in other cryptocurrencies, like Solana and Ethereum, has also grown, with Ethereum-based ETFs in the U.S. attracting strong demand despite challenging market conditions.
This article was originally Posted on Coinpaper.com
