River Reports Bitcoin Now Represents 1.7% of Global Money Basket
Key Takeaways
- •River estimates Bitcoin's market cap at roughly 1.7% of a combined global money basket totaling about $138 trillion, made up of $112.9 trillion in fiat M2 supply and $25.1 trillion in gold.
- •Bitcoin's daily issuance of approximately 450 BTC is far exceeded by businesses absorbing roughly 1,755 BTC daily, nearly four times the new supply entering the market.
- •Only about 825,000 individuals globally hold at least one whole Bitcoin, roughly 0.01% of the world's population and less than 1.5% of the roughly 60 million millionaires worldwide.
- •River attributes Bitcoin's adoption partly to central bank monetary expansion eroding fiat purchasing power.
- •River's research suggests a 10% Bitcoin allocation has historically outperformed conventional strategies including the 60/40 stock-and-bond portfolio.
Bitcoin now accounts for roughly 1% of all the money on Earth, according to new research from River, a Bitcoin-centric financial services firm. River calculated that BTC's market capitalization has reached approximately 1.7% of a combined global money basket totaling around $138 trillion.
How River Did the Math
The $138 trillion figure is built from two components: the total global fiat M2 money supply, pegged at $112.9 trillion, and gold's market capitalization at $25.1 trillion. Together, these form what River considers the world's "money basket." At Bitcoin's peak market cap of around $2.4 trillion, BTC claimed about 1.7% of that basket. Price fluctuations brought the figure down slightly to roughly 1.66% at the time of River's reporting. Measuring Bitcoin against gold and broad money supply reflects a long-running debate over whether BTC functions as a store of value comparable to the metal, a framing that has gained traction as institutions have gained exposure to the asset through spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds approved in the United States in January 2024.
Supply Dynamics Are Tightening
On the supply side, Bitcoin's daily issuance sits at approximately 450 BTC per day following the most recent halving cycle. Halvings occur roughly every four years and cut the block reward paid to miners in half, a mechanism hardcoded into Bitcoin's protocol that, combined with its fixed 21 million coin cap, makes new supply progressively scarcer. Meanwhile, businesses alone are absorbing roughly 1,755 BTC daily — nearly four times the rate of new supply entering the market.
River attributes Bitcoin's growing adoption in part to continuing monetary expansion by central banks. When governments print more fiat currency, the purchasing power of that currency erodes over time, pushing individuals toward alternative stores of value.
Who Actually Owns a Whole Bitcoin?
River's research also surfaced a notable data point about ownership concentration. According to the firm's analysis, only about 825,000 individuals globally hold at least one whole Bitcoin — roughly 0.01% of the world's population.
For context, there are approximately 60 million millionaires worldwide. The pool of whole-coin Bitcoin holders is less than 1.5% of that group.
River's research also suggests that a 10% allocation to Bitcoin has historically outperformed conventional investment strategies, including the classic 60/40 stock-and-bond portfolio.
