--- title: "Galaxy Research Finds 55% of Bitcoin Supply Remains Unattributed" description: "Around 11.1 million BTC cannot be tied to known entities, underscoring the persistence of self-custody and lost coins despite institutional inflows." url: https://basisdesk.news/news/galaxy-research-unattributed-bitcoin-supply-self-custody published: 2026-10-26T07:26:37.850Z modified: 2026-10-26T07:26:37.850Z section: Bitcoin author: Basis Desk Newsroom (AI-generated, source-verified) sentiment: neutral tickers: [BTC] tags: [Galaxy Research, Self-Custody, Onchain Analysis, Bitcoin Supply] license: Quote with attribution to Basis Desk (basisdesk.news). Not financial advice. --- # Galaxy Research Finds 55% of Bitcoin Supply Remains Unattributed Around 11.1 million BTC cannot be tied to known entities, underscoring the persistence of self-custody and lost coins despite institutional inflows. ## At a glance - **What happened:** Galaxy Research reported that approximately 11.1 million BTC, or 55% of total mined supply, cannot be tied to any known institutional or exchange entity. - **Why it matters:** The data demonstrates that retail investors and self-custodians still control a larger share of Bitcoin's supply than institutional custodians and funds. - **Who is affected:** Bitcoin investors, onchain analysts, and institutional custodians. - **What's next:** No next step announced. - **Primary source:** [Over 11 million BTC can't be linked to any known owner](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/26/over-11-million-btc-can-t-be-linked-to-any-known-owner-even-after-wall-street-buying) — coindesk.com ## Key points - Galaxy Research found that 11.1 million BTC (55% of mined supply) sits in unlabelled addresses. - The unattributed pool includes retail self-custody, lost early coins, and unmapped private funds or OTC desks. - Known entities accounting for the remaining 45% include BlackRock ETFs, the US government, and 1,123,658 BTC in Patoshi pattern wallets. ## Editorial remark - **Context:** Rapid institutional adoption and spot ETF approvals over recent years concentrated significant trading volume onto Wall Street platforms. - **Impact:** Market liquidity may be thinner than total capitalization implies, as a majority of supply remains locked in private self-custody, lost wallets, or non-custodial storage. - **Watch:** Galaxy Research and onchain intelligence desks monitoring wallet attribution shifts and movement within dormant or early Satoshi-era blocks. More than half of all circulating $BTC cannot be linked to known institutions, centralized exchanges, or governments, according to an October analysis released by Galaxy Research [1]. The research arm identified approximately 11.1 million BTC—representing roughly 55% of the estimated 20.1 million mined coins—in unlabelled addresses [1]. At the time of writing, $BTC was trading at $79,982. Galaxy's head of research, Alex Thorn, highlighted the data as confirmation that individual self-custody continues to dominate the asset's ownership structure despite extensive institutionalization [1]. Self-custody involves users retaining their own private keys rather than trusting third-party custodians or investment vehicles [1]. In response, Xapo Bank noted that the concentration of unattributed coins illustrates retail market dominance that predates institutional interest [1]. Understanding the distribution of unspent transaction outputs is central to tracking these movements, as seen in the mechanics of [Bitcoin UTXOs](https://basisdesk.news/news/bitcoin-utxos-explained). ## Unidentified Balances and Known Entities The unattributed category encompasses several types of holders [1]. Galaxy pointed out that this segment likely contains permanently inaccessible or lost tokens from owners who misplaced keys or passed away [1]. It also accounts for early tokens mined outside the Patoshi pattern, non-attributed institutional holdings such as over-the-counter desks and private funds, as well as complex multi-address custodial architectures [1]. Conversely, Galaxy identified specific entities for the remaining 45% of the network's supply [1]. These labelled holdings include centralized exchanges, exchange-traded funds including BlackRock, and sovereign seizures by the US government [1]. Galaxy tracks early blocks associated with Satoshi Nakamoto separately, estimating the "Patoshi pattern" holdings at 1,123,658 BTC [1]. Despite substantial allocations into spot funds, anonymous and retail-managed balances remain the largest component of Bitcoin supply [1]. ## Sources 1. [Over 11 million BTC can't be linked to any known owner](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/26/over-11-million-btc-can-t-be-linked-to-any-known-owner-even-after-wall-street-buying) — coindesk.com, 2026-10-26 --- Basis Desk Newsroom · AI-generated, source-verified · https://basisdesk.news/about/how-we-use-ai