The surge has been attributed to capital pouring into Bitcoin and Ethereum from institutional investors
The number of individuals around the world holding $1 million or more in cryptocurrency assets has increased by 95% since 2023, with more than half of them invested in Bitcoin, according to a newly released report.
The Crypto Wealth Report 2024, compiled by the London-based “international wealth and investment migration specialists” Henley & Partners, also showed an 89% increase in total market value of crypto assets, from last year’s $1.2 trillion to $2.3 trillion.
“The cryptocurrency landscape of 2024 bears little resemblance to its predecessors,” Dominic Volek of Henley & Partners said in a statement, noting that the “long-awaited approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs [exchange-traded funds] unleashed a torrent of institutional capital.”
According to the report, there were 172,300 individuals holding crypto assets worth at least $1 million as of June 30 this year. The number of Bitcoin millionaires alone has risen by a whopping 111% to 85,400.
There are 325 individuals who have crypto holdings worth $100 million or more, a 79% increase over 2023. Even the “rarefied cohort” of crypto billionaires has expanded by 27% to 28 people across the globe.
“Of the six new crypto billionaires created over the past year, five came from Bitcoin, underscoring its dominant position when it comes to attracting long-term investors who buy large holdings,” said Andrew Amoils, head of research at South Africa-based New World Wealth.
Cryptocurrency investor Lark Davis, however, claimed that Ethereum was “a keystone asset” of the market.
Volek is now expecting Solana ETFs to be given regulatory approval in the US and “join the Wall Street party, which will help start a new era of crypto adoption “where digital assets increasingly cross-pollinate with traditional finance and global mobility.”
Henley & Partners specializes in “residence and citizenship by investment” and says it has seen a “significant uptick” in wealthy crypto investors seeking to emigrate this year.
The company also maintains the Crypto Adoption Index, a bench-marking tool that ranks countries by their friendliness to the cryptocurrency technology. The top three spots in the 2024 index are occupied by Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, with the US and the UK rounding out the top five.
