The crypto elite is growing—with the number of digital asset millionaires nearly doubling since last year. 

That’s according to a new report by consultancy Henley & Partners. The firm, citing New World Wealth data, showed that 172,300 people worldwide now hold over $1 million in cryptocurrencies—a 95% surge from 2023.  

And the number of Bitcoin millionaires more than doubled over the past year: the figure now stands at 85,400 people, a 111% increase, the report showed.

Both jumps come as Bitcoin and other leading crypto assets have surged in price over the last year. At its current price of $61,800, BTC has risen by 136% over the last 12 months, with other assets marking their own respective sizable gains during the span. 

Bitcoin closed 2023 trading for less than $43,000 per coin, CoinGecko shows, and sat at a price just above $26,000 one year ago today.

The report noted that the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Ethereum equivalents “unleashed a torrent of institutional capital.”

“As cryptocurrencies cement their place in the financial zeitgeist, a new class of high-net-worth individuals has emerged,” the report said, adding that the number of centi-millionaires grew by 79% to 325. And there are now 28 crypto billionaires, the report notes, up 27% from last year.

Wall Street watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January made Bitcoin more mainstream by giving the green light to Bitcoin ETFs.

ETFs are a popular investment vehicle that trade on stock exchanges. They allow people to buy shares that track the price of a security or commodity—such as gold, tech stocks, or digital coins and tokens.

Bitcoin itself can be complicated to buy, store, and sell—but the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity launched funds that make it easy for investors to get a slice of the action. 

And then in May, the SEC also approved Ethereum ETFs, which began trading in late July. Both the Bitcoin funds and Ethereum equivalents have been widely popular since their respective launches.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

 Read More