Crypto's Best Days Are Far From Over as 290 People Hold $100M or More and Owners Hit 742 Million

Henley & Partners estimates that 742 million people now own cryptocurrency worldwide, including 135,694 millionaires and a tiny elite of 290 investors with at least $100 million each, even as Bitcoin trades about 38% below its October 2025 peak.

The figures come from the firm's Crypto Wealth Report 2026, published on 8 September 2026 using a 31 August 2026 market snapshot. It estimates 135,694 crypto millionaires, including 92,272 people with at least $1 million in Bitcoin alone.

The report also estimates 23 crypto billionaires, including nine who qualify through Bitcoin holdings of $1 billion or more. Henley gives a range of 17 to 34 around its central estimate.

Crypto Ownership Has Reached 742 Million

Henley estimates that 742 million people hold some form of cryptocurrency, including 371 million who hold Bitcoin. The figure covers holders at any level, rather than people with substantial wealth.

The estimate starts with a mid-2025 base of about 708 million crypto owners, including 354 million Bitcoin owners. Henley then applies growth in funded Bitcoin addresses, which increased by about 4.9% in the year to 31 August 2026, and assumes Bitcoin owners represent half of all crypto holders.

At the top end, Henley estimates 290 crypto centi-millionaires, including 151 whose Bitcoin holdings alone reach $100 million. Its central estimate has a range of 260 to 320 people.

The $100 Million Group Is Modelled

The $100 million figure is not a census of named investors. Henley starts with 123,222 Bitcoin addresses holding at least $1 million at the 31 August 2026 snapshot.

Its methodology adjusts for exchange and fund holdings, potentially lost coins, multiple addresses belonging to the same owner and holdings represented through exchange-traded funds.

An exchange wallet, for example, can hold assets for thousands of customers, while a single individual can control multiple addresses. Henley therefore extends the wealth distribution to the $100 million level before estimating how many of the largest addresses represent individuals.

That distribution produces roughly 1,960 addresses at the $100 million level. Henley estimates that about 15% of those addresses belong to individuals, with an individual-share range of 13.5% to 16.5%, producing the central figure of 290.

A blockchain address is not necessarily one person, which is why Henley gives a range around its central estimate.

Bitcoin Still Dominates Crypto Wealth

Henley estimates that Bitcoin represents 52% of crypto wealth at the centi‑millionaire level, compared with 40% among crypto billionaires. For the wider millionaire estimate, Henley uses Bitcoin's 68% share of crypto market value excluding stablecoins as a proxy to scale its Bitcoin millionaire count to 135,694 crypto millionaires.

Henley says this approach is intended to align its millionaire estimate with Bitcoin's share of the broader crypto market while accounting for assets held outside on‑chain addresses.

Its estimated range for Bitcoin millionaires is 74,000 to 114,000. The report's methodology puts the Bitcoin millionaire threshold at 12.82 BTC at the snapshot price of $78,008.

Ownership Widened as Bitcoin Fell

Bitcoin was valued at $78,008 on 31 August 2026, roughly 38% below its October 2025 peak. Henley puts the wider crypto market at about $2.6 trillion, with Bitcoin accounting for about $1.6 trillion.

The report says the decline from the 2025 peak is smaller than Bitcoin's falls of more than 75% after peaks in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2021. Henley also warns that its 2026 methodology is new and should not be compared directly with previous editions.

The figures therefore describe the current estimated distribution of crypto wealth rather than a year-on-year change in the number of millionaires or centi-millionaires.