In the era of digital currency, exchanges play a key role and carry huge wealth. Recent data shows that exchanges hold more than $12.4 billion in mainstream currencies, sparking people's curiosity about the main holders behind these huge digital wealth. So, who is in control of this huge digital wealth? This article will deeply interpret the main holders of this digital wealth and reveal the mystery of the $12.4 billion mainstream currency behind the exchange.

From the perspective of the digital currency market, exchanges have always played a vital role. They are not only trading venues for digital assets, but also guardians and distributors of digital wealth. And who can be called the largest holder of this $12.4 billion mainstream currency is undoubtedly a topic of great concern. Let's unveil this mysterious veil together and see who is hiding behind the digital wealth.

First, let's take a look at the main digital currency on the market today-Bitcoin. As the most well-known and market-valued digital currency, Bitcoin has always attracted much attention. How big is the proportion of Bitcoin in the $12.4 billion mainstream currency? According to the latest data, Bitcoin accounts for as much as 60% of this digital wealth, which can be called the absolute leader. This means that exchanges holding Bitcoin have an absolute dominant position in the $12.4 billion digital wealth.

In addition to Bitcoin, Ethereum is another popular digital currency. As a smart contract platform, Ethereum's position in the digital currency market cannot be underestimated. Among the mainstream currencies of $12.4 billion, Ethereum accounts for about 20%, ranking second. This shows that Ethereum's share in digital wealth is quite considerable, bringing rich benefits to exchanges holding Ethereum.

In addition to the above mainstream digital currencies, there are some other digital currencies that also play an important role in this digital wealth. For example, the famous chain link coins and wave field coins, etc., also have an important position in the digital currency market. The continuous emergence of these digital currencies has provided more choices and opportunities for digital wealth holders, and has also brought more vitality and innovation to the entire digital currency market.

In summary, among the 12.4 billion US dollars of mainstream currencies, mainstream digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple account for the vast majority of the market share, and the exchanges holding these digital currencies have become the main holders of digital wealth. They have made important contributions to the development and growth of the digital currency market through sound investment strategies and high-quality services. In the future, as the digital currency market continues to develop and grow, these major holders of digital wealth will also face more challenges and opportunities. Let us wait and see, and witness the glorious moment of digital wealth together!

The four most famous international exchanges:

Binance INTL	OKX INTL	Gate.io INTL	Huobi INTL
China Line　APP DL	China Line　APP DL	China Line　APP DL	China Line　APP DL

Note: The above exchange logo is the official website registration link, and the text is the APP download link.

Currently holding at least $12.4 billion worth of Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT (Tether), the total amount of Bitcoin, USDT and Ethereum currently held by users is $3.6 billion, followed by Bitfinex ($2.5 billion), Bittrex ($1.6 billion).

Since January this year, the exchange's Ethereum holdings have increased by 38%, far exceeding the 19% increase in Bitcoin holdings.

Bitcoin was created ten years ago to achieve the disintermediation of the financial system. However, centralized exchanges still hold a large amount of cryptocurrencies for users. According to The
Block's research, cryptocurrency exchanges currently hold at least $12.4 billion in Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT (Tether).

Currently, there are about 888,400 Bitcoins (about 5% of the circulation), 10.6 million Ethers (10% of the circulation) and 1.6 billion USDT (39% of the circulation) in the wallet addresses of well-known cryptocurrency exchanges. It is worth noting that exchanges may control more wallets whose addresses are not public and are not marked on BitInfoCharts, Etherscan or Tether. Some major exchanges, including BitMEX and Coinbase, which hold large amounts of cryptocurrency, do not have public wallet addresses, so their data is not included in this analysis.

However, Coinbase announced in December 2018 that it manages about $5 billion worth of cryptocurrency, accounting for 5% of the total value of Bitcoin, 8% of the total value of Ethereum, and 25% of Litecoin in circulation. In August of this year, Coinbase Custody also announced that it currently holds $7 billion in assets for more than 120 customers.

According to research by The
Block, Binance currently holds $3.6 billion in Bitcoin, USDT and Ethereum. It is followed by Huobi ($2.5 billion), Bitfinex ($1.8 billion) and Bittrex ($1.6 billion).

Cryptocurrency holdings cannot be forged, so the amount of cryptocurrency stored in cold wallets can well reflect the actual trading activity of the exchange. It’s easy to fake transaction volume, but it’s impossible to fake the amount of cryptocurrency in a cold wallet.

Bitcoin

Binance has the largest amount of Bitcoin in cold wallets, with 234,700, followed by (166,800) and Bitfinex (128,700). The only exchange that could surpass Binance is Coinbase, but since Coinbase holds almost all of its Bitcoin in a wallet address with less than 7,000 Bitcoins, it’s difficult to track its total balance without blockchain analysis.

Since January this year, the amount of BTC held by Binance and Huobi has increased significantly. Binance’s total holdings increased by 31%, and Huobi’s increased by 54%. Bitfinex and Poloniex’s holdings have fallen the most.

Source: BitInfoCharts

Tether (USDT)

As the stablecoin USDT expands to more and more platforms such as Ethereum, TRON, EOS, and Liquid, it is no longer as easy to track USDT as it once was. But analyzing USDT on Omni and Ethereum chains (97% of the circulation), it can be found that Binance and Huobi seem to hold the most USDT. In fact, the two exchanges currently hold a total of 32.5% of the total USDT in circulation.

Ethereum

In terms of Ethereum holdings, Kraken ranks first, followed by Binance and Bitfinex. The three exchanges hold a total of about 6.3% of the total supply of Ethereum.

Since January this year, the number of Ethereum held by exchanges has increased by about 38%, which is a larger increase than Bitcoin. Among them, Kraken's holdings increased by 55%, and Binance increased by 53%. Huobi's Ethereum holdings have hardly increased or decreased in the past 8 months.

In addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum, mainstream digital currencies such as Litecoin and Ripple also play an important role in the $12.4 billion digital wealth. As a derivative of Bitcoin, Litecoin's market position and potential are highly regarded. In digital wealth, Litecoin's share is about 10%, ranking third. As a convenient cross-border payment tool, Ripple also has an irreplaceable position in the digital currency market. Ripple accounts for about 5% of the $12.4 billion digital wealth, ranking fourth.