As of October 8, 2026, over 6.26 million BTC, representing 31.2% of the circulating supply, are held behind exposed public keys. This figure has increased by 222,000 BTC since May 2026, when the total stood at 6.04 million BTC. During the same period, the total Bitcoin supply grew by only 64,000 BTC.
Centralized exchanges are the primary drivers of this growth, contributing 123,000 BTC to the increase. Currently, 1.79 million BTC on trading platforms are held in exposed addresses. The level of exposure varies significantly by platform: Coinbase reports approximately 10% exposure, Binance reaches 83%, and Robinhood shows 100%.
Analysts monitor these public keys due to potential future risks from quantum computing, which could theoretically derive private keys from exposed public data. While individual holders may face challenges migrating inactive or lost coins, exchanges have the operational capacity to move their reserves to more secure, unexposed addresses.
