I rephrase the original question:
A Bitcoin holder is one who knowingly holds a positive balance of bitcoins. The bitcoins may be held in blockchain via wallet software or in paper wallets, or with a 3rd party if the business of the 3rd party is strictly to hold them for you.
Bitcoin loans for use other than safekeeping are counted as bitcoin balances of the borrower, not of the lender. Bitcoin stocks or any other instruments denominated as bitcoins, are not bitcoins. Altcoins or anything else are not bitcoins.
And post a new estimate that takes into account the research I have done:
25. Oct 2013:
#People | #Bitcoins | #TotalBitcoins |
73 | BTC10k+ | 4.0M |
1070 | BTC1k-10k | 3.0M |
8600 | BTC100-1k | 2.4M |
50k | BTC10-100 | 1.4M |
147k | BTC1-10 | 0.5M |
250k | BTC0.1-1 | 0.1M |
133k | BTC0-0.1 | 0.0M |
Total: 11.4M bitcoins, 590k owners
110,000 people own bitcoins that are valued at more than $1,000 (
BTC5 or more).