Broadest Estimate Puts Early Bitcoin Miner’s Holdings at 1.17 Million BTC
A reconstructed set linked to one dominant early miner included 1,023,352 BTC that had not moved through Sept. 1, valued at about $79 billion.
A reconstruction of Bitcoin’s earliest blocks places the broadest estimate for one dominant early miner’s holdings at 1.17 million BTC, while 1,023,352 BTC remained unmoved through Sept. 1.
The review examined Bitcoin’s first 54,316 blocks and identified 23,466 associated with the Patoshi mining pattern, a statistical fingerprint linked to one dominant early miner. Depending on the methodology, the estimated total ranges from below 0.9 million Bitcoin (BTC) to 1.17 million BTC.
The upper-end figure is a methodological estimate rather than a confirmed balance belonging to a known person. The reconstructed set contained 1,023,352 BTC that had not moved through block 965,051, dated Sept. 1, 2026. At Bitcoin’s price of $77,582 that day, the balance was valued at about $79 billion.
A public Patoshi list contained 1,097,652 BTC, including 1,096,102 BTC that remained unmoved, or 99.86%. That balance was worth about $85 billion at the same price.
The review counted 1,550 BTC that had left the public Patoshi list. It found that no coins on that list moved after December 2017. It also identified 28 early Bitcoin rewards that had awakened since 2020, although none met the evidence standard used to classify them as Patoshi coins.
Researcher Sergio Demián Lerner documented the Patoshi pattern in 2013. It uses features in early block data, including nonce ranges and extranonce behavior.
Researchers have associated the pattern with Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. However, the blockchain does not establish that the miner and Nakamoto were the same person. The estimated holdings therefore reflect an interpretation of historical mining data rather than a verified wallet balance.
