Wallet Distribution sorts holders by the size of what they carry and reports where the coins actually sit. Nothing on chain answers the question of whether ownership is gathering into fewer hands or fanning out more directly than this.

It is a proxy and not a measurement, and the gap between those two words is the whole subject of this page. Nothing on the chain records people, only addresses, and the two have never lined up neatly at any point in the network’s life.

What it actually measures

The brackets are fixed amounts rather than sliding rankings, so a band filling up means holdings really did grow into that size instead of the goalposts wandering.

The same brackets support three separate readings. One reports where the coins are, another how many holders are behind each bracket, and a third what each bracket has been doing lately. They contradict one another regularly, and the contradiction is normally what matters. A bracket taking a bigger share of the coin while shedding holders is consolidating into fewer, larger owners; the reverse is breaking apart, and neither is visible from any one of the three alone. Reading all three at once separates genuine movement in ownership from a figure that happens to have changed.

An address has never been the same thing as a holder

A custodian holds for many thousands of people inside very few addresses, so an enormous number of real owners can register as one large wallet. One person can equally spread a modest holding across dozens of addresses and register as a crowd.

Both distortions are large and neither is measurable, so the trend is worth far more here than the headcount. A shift sustained over months is difficult to manufacture; a level at any single moment is a description of address bookkeeping as much as of ownership.

What it does not tell you

Exchange reorganisations move enormous quantities between bands without anybody buying or selling. A striking change in the smallest cohorts is as likely to be one venue restructuring its wallets as it is adoption broadening.

The cohorts also cannot see anything off-chain. Positions held through funds, brokers or derivatives never appear at all, and that share of the market has grown considerably.

Nor does it say anything about intent. A cohort growing its share has more coin than it did, and whether that reflects conviction, custody policy or an accounting change is outside what an address balance can express. The view describes where coins are, and every question about why belongs somewhere else.

How to read it

Dispersing. The coin is drifting towards the smaller brackets, so ownership is fanning out.

Steady. No meaningful redistribution between cohorts.

Concentrating. Supply is accumulating in the largest cohorts.

On the Supply dashboard, Wallet Distribution runs next to Accumulation Trend, Retail Holdings and Cost Basis by Wallet Size.

Common questions

Does one address mean one person?

No, and that is the standing warning attached to all of this. A custodian keeps thousands of people in a handful of places while one individual can scatter across dozens, so follow the direction of travel rather than the tally.

What do the three modes each report?

One reports where the coins are, another how many holders are behind each bracket, and a third what each bracket has been doing lately.

Why do the bands use fixed ranges?

Because the brackets are fixed amounts, a band filling up means holdings really did grow into that size rather than the goalposts wandering.

What does a rising small-holder share mean?

More coin sitting in modest holdings, which usually gets read as adoption spreading. It can just as easily be one exchange rearranging its own plumbing.

What is invisible to it?

Anything off-chain. Positions held through funds, brokers or derivatives never appear in any cohort.