<p>Well, we know at least how much Mt. Gox holds -- as they have a cold storage system that they've proven they control.</p>

<p>Also, flow analysis combined with other data might help make it possible to have a better idea.  It alone doesn't give exact identity, but it can help to point in a general direction as far as how much certain people or certain organizations have received and of that amount, how much they've spent.</p>

<p>Here's an article describing this:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://anonymity-in-bitcoin.blogspot.com/2011/07/bitcoin-is-not-anonymous.html" rel="nofollow">http://anonymity-in-bitcoin.blogspot.com/2011/07/bitcoin-is-not-anonymous.html</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T00:57:19.273Z
2012-04-22T00:57:19.273Z
Stephen Gornick
<p>The protocol gives no information about who controls an address. In an extreme case, every address could be controlled by just one person, or every address could have a unique owner. However, a degree of traffic analysis is possible, and if you have access to other data from outside the Bitcoin network, you could correlate transactions with these non-Bitcoin events and infer who the real-world owners of the addresses are.</p>

<p>For example, if you had access to ISP records of who uses an IP address that has just mined a block, you could start to build profiles of the owners of new coins.</p>

<p>But there are many barriers to achieving the total information awareness that you would need to build a comprehensive profile of all coin owners, so the short answer is no, there is no reliable way to measure Bitcoin wealth distribution.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-21T16:03:05.347Z
2012-04-21T16:03:05.347Z
jl6
<p>Given the difficult of detecting lost coins, or telling between hoarded and lost coins, it seems impossible to actually report on the real wealth distribution of the bitcoin currency. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-11T23:06:17.907Z
See: http://www.businessinsider.com/927-people-own-half-of-the-bitcoins-2013-12
makerofthings7
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-21T15:01:34.863Z
You say improve, but what makes you think this is not an optimal state?
jl6
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-21T15:20:01.083Z
I know of no currency that is as easy as bitcoin to generate statistics about...
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-21T15:41:53.867Z
both fair points. edited
barrymac
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T00:52:25.067Z
Is this a problem?
Stephen Gornick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T01:48:33.730Z
Possible duplicate of http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/86/is-it-possible-to-estimate-the-gini-coefficient-for-bitcoins-and-if-the-trend-is
David Perry
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T13:32:17.990Z
The reason I asked is because I've seen a bit of discussion around the topic, some people are a bit concerned about early adopters having some unfair advantage. I was wondering if there are many differences with our current monetary system in this regard.
barrymac
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-22T13:34:10.200Z
@ Stephen I don't think there's a problem, and possibly an advantage @David, thanks for the link to that related question
barrymac
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-28T05:52:49.170Z
@barrymac Fees are very relevant in difference between current monetary system and bitcoin.  Fees are like a tax.  Lower fees with bitcoin mean less friction to put that wealth into place.  When bitcoin fees are paid, they aren't going to those already wealthy, necessarily.
Stephen Gornick
<development><economic-theory>
Is there a reliable way to measure bitcoin wealth distribution?
barrymac
# Is there a reliable way to measure bitcoin wealth distribution?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-04-21)

Given the difficult of detecting lost coins, or telling between hoarded and lost coins, it seems impossible to actually report on the real wealth distribution of the bitcoin currency.

**Tags:** development, economic-theory

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: You say improve, but what makes you think this is not an optimal state?  
> **username_3**: I know of no currency that is as easy as bitcoin to generate statistics about...  
> **username_0**: both fair points. edited  
> **username_4**: Is this a problem?  
> **username_5**: Possible duplicate of http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/86/is-it-possible-to-estimate-the-gini-coefficient-for-bitcoins-and-if-the-trend-is  
> **username_0**: The reason I asked is because I've seen a bit of discussion around the topic, some people are a bit concerned about early adopters having some unfair advantage. I was wondering if there are many differences with our current monetary system in this regard.  
> **username_0**: @ Stephen I don't think there's a problem, and possibly an advantage @David, thanks for the link to that related question  
> **username_4**: @username_0 Fees are very relevant in difference between current monetary system and bitcoin.  Fees are like a tax.  Lower fees with bitcoin mean less friction to put that wealth into place.  When bitcoin fees are paid, they aren't going to those already wealthy, necessarily.  
> **username_1**: See: http://www.businessinsider.com/927-people-own-half-of-the-bitcoins-2013-12  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-04-21. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

The protocol gives no information about who controls an address. In an extreme case, every address could be controlled by just one person, or every address could have a unique owner. However, a degree of traffic analysis is possible, and if you have access to other data from outside the Bitcoin network, you could correlate transactions with these non-Bitcoin events and infer who the real-world owners of the addresses are.

For example, if you had access to ISP records of who uses an IP address that has just mined a block, you could start to build profiles of the owners of new coins.

But there are many barriers to achieving the total information awareness that you would need to build a comprehensive profile of all coin owners, so the short answer is no, there is no reliable way to measure Bitcoin wealth distribution.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2012-04-22. Score: 3

Well, we know at least how much Mt. Gox holds -- as they have a cold storage system that they've proven they control.

Also, flow analysis combined with other data might help make it possible to have a better idea. It alone doesn't give exact identity, but it can help to point in a general direction as far as how much certain people or certain organizations have received and of that amount, how much they've spent.

Here's an article describing this:

* <http://anonymity-in-bitcoin.blogspot.com/2011/07/bitcoin-is-not-anonymous.html>


---

