Who is the mysterious Ethereum whale holding $1 billion in ETH?
Estonian businessman Rain Lohmus, the largest individual Ethereum holder, owns a locked wallet with approximately 250,000 ETH valued at nearly $900 million, which he cannot access due to losing his private keys. Lohmus purchased the coins during Ethereum's 2014 ICO for $75,000, resulting in an over 11,000x appreciation. Despite offering half the wallet's value for recovery help, Lohmus has not pursued significant retrieval efforts. Arkham Intelligence ranks Lohmus as the top individual Ether holder, followed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and others. A majority of ETH is held in institutional wallets like Ethereum 2.0’s Beacon Deposit Contract, while the US government and hackers also control sizeable amounts of ETH.
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Estonian Entrepreneur's Ethereum Fortune
Estonian businessman Rain Lohmus participated in Ethereum's 2014 initial coin offering (ICO) and has become the world’s largest individual holder, owning around 250,000 ETH valued at nearly $900 million, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence. As the chairman of the Supervisory Board at LHV Capital, Lohmus originally purchased roughly $75,000 worth of Ether during the ICO more than a decade ago, an investment that has appreciated over 11,000 times its original value.
Lost Private Keys to Massive Crypto Holdings
Despite amassing one of the largest personal crypto holdings in history, Lohmus lost access to his 250,000 ETH after misplacing the private keys to his Ethereum wallet. Speaking in a radio interview with Estonia’s Vikerraadio in August, Lohmus revealed that his Ether holdings are now permanently locked on the blockchain. When Ethereum peaked at an all-time high of $4,953, Lohmus' lost coins reached a valuation of over $1 billion. Commenting on the situation, Lohmus said: 'Perfect decentralization has other risks that you don’t usually think about.'
Attempts to Recover the Wallet
In contrast to his significant loss, Lohmus admitted that he has not made serious attempts to recover his wallet, but he stated he is open to sharing half of the value of the lost coins with anyone able to help him regain access, as reported by Cryptopolitan in 2023. His case mirrors that of British IT worker James Howells, whose discarded hard drive contained 8,000 Bitcoin and has ignited a 12-year dispute with local authorities over recovering the hardware from a landfill.
Ethereum's Largest Holder Rankings
According to Arkham Intelligence, Lohmus is ranked as the largest individual Ether holder, locking up about 0.03% of the total supply in his inaccessible wallet. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum's co-founder, follows closely with 241,000 ETH worth approximately $868 million. Other notable holders include Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys, with 243,300 ETH, and early developer Jeffrey Wilcke, who holds 116,000 ETH. The fifth largest holder, 'crypto millionaire' James Fickel, owns around 57,000 ETH.
Institutional and Government Holdings
Beyond individual holders, the majority of Ether is stored in institutional and protocol-related wallets. The Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Deposit Contract houses 72.4 million ETH (~60% of total supply), equivalent to nearly $268 billion, securing coins staked for network validation. On the institutional side, Binance leads with over 4 million ETH, followed by BlackRock (3.94 million ETH), Coinbase (3.5 million ETH), and Bitmine (3.1 million ETH). Government-linked wallets, including those tied to the US government, collectively store 64,700 ETH valued at $240 million.
The Role of Hackers in Large Ethereum Balances
Hackers also control some of the largest Ethereum holdings. For example, the Gatecoin hacker from 2016 still holds 156,200 ETH, initially valued at $2 million and now worth approximately $516 million. Other balances originate from exploits on exchanges and smart contracts over the past decade, highlighting the risks that remain in cryptocurrency ecosystems.