Crypto Wealth Holds Up in 2026 as Bitcoin Retreats from Record Highs

LONDON, Sept. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There are 135,694 crypto millionaires worldwide, each holding USD 1 million or more in digital assets — and 92,272 are Bitcoin millionaires — according to the Crypto Wealth Report 2026 released today by international residence and citizenship advisory specialists Henley & Partners. The global crypto market is now worth USD 2.6 trillion, of which USD 1.6 trillion is in Bitcoin (as of 31 August 2026). Bitcoin currently trades at roughly 38% below its October 2025 peak, recovering from its mid-year slump when it fell under 50%, and this has been the mildest of its major winters: the declines that followed the 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2021 peaks each cut its price by more than 75%.

Further up the crypto wealth pyramid are 290 centi-millionaires holding USD 100 million or more — 151 in Bitcoin alone — while at the apex are 23 crypto billionaires, 9 of them in Bitcoin. Some 742 million individuals now hold digital assets in some amount, 371 million of them holding Bitcoin, showing that ownership continued to broaden even as the market contracted.

Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, says the portability of digital wealth is making residence and citizenship planning increasingly relevant to crypto investors. “Crypto may be borderless, but the families who own it are not. They still live, pay tax, educate their children, and operate within national legal and regulatory systems. Crypto changes the traditional equation: the asset may no longer need the jurisdiction, but the owner still does.”

Dr. Guenther Dobrauz-Saldapenna, Managing Partner at Henley & Partners Switzerland, says digital assets have fundamentally altered the relationship between wealth and geography. “Traditional wealth often crosses borders slowly, through intermediaries, or not at all. A self-custodied digital asset can move with its owner almost instantly. That makes the individual’s choice of residence, citizenship, and regulatory environment far more important.”

Ownership Widens Through the Downturn

Digital asset ownership skews sharply by age. This is the first generation to build significant fortunes in an asset that was never tied to a single country.

Jack Bernstein, Head of the International Tax Group at Aird & Berlis, says this younger generation’s priorities are also evolving: “The first generation of crypto wealth creators faces challenges very different from those of traditional family businesses. For many young entrepreneurs, the focus has shifted from building wealth to preserving it.”

The report weighs what the new infrastructure changed, and what it did not. Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer at CoinShares, says “the crucial question for wealth managers is no longer simply which token to buy, or even how much digital asset exposure a client should hold, but how many different ways that allocation can earn its return.”

Stablecoins are also changing how digital wealth can move between financial centers. Dr. Guneet Kaur, an independent researcher in financial technologies and AI, points out that “dollar liquidity can now move between a Dubai custodian, a Singapore family office, and a European bank account inside minutes rather than days, without routing through a US correspondent bank at all.” 

Comparing Crypto-Friendly Countries

The Henley Crypto Adoption Index 2026, a proprietary tool updated annually as part of the Crypto Wealth Report, benchmarks 36 countries offering residence and citizenship pathways, assessing how effectively they embrace and regulate crypto and blockchain. Drawing on more than 900 data points, the index provides a comparative view of the regulatory, tax, infrastructure, innovation, and adoption environments available to internationally mobile digital asset investors.

Singapore leads the index for the fourth consecutive year, holding the highest Innovation and Technology score overall. The UAE takes 2^nd place, up from 5^th last year, with 10 out of 10 for Tax-Friendliness and no tax on crypto trading, staking, or mining. Hong Kong is 3^rd, with the strongest Infrastructure Adoption and Economic Factors scores in the index, and the USA is 4^th, the only country to score a perfect 10 for Public Adoption. Switzerland completes the Top Five, scoring highly in Innovation and Technology and Economic Factors.

Malta ranks 6^th and holds the highest Regulatory Environment score in the index, with Thailand, the UK, Cyprus, and The Bahamas taking the remaining positions in the Top 10.

Newcomers include The Bahamas (10^th), Cayman Islands (12^th), Bahrain (13^th), Argentina (26^th), Maldives (31^st), and Paraguay (35^th). H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board, says: “Bahrain’s strong debut reflects its broader positioning as a destination for international investors and the appeal of countries that combine highly competitive taxation environments with business-friendly fundamentals.”

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Sarah Nicklin

Group Head of PR

sarah.nicklin@henleyglobal.com

+27 72 464 8965