In a major on-chain revelation, analytics platform Arkham Intelligence has identified Rain Lohmus, a participant in Ethereum's 2014 presale, as the cryptocurrency's largest individual holder. According to their 2025 analysis, Lohmus controls approximately 250,000 ETH, valued at around $530 million. This surpasses the holdings of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who is confirmed to hold about 224,000 ETH worth $480 million.
The discovery highlights the lasting wealth generated for Ethereum's earliest supporters. Lohmus acquired his ETH at the genesis price of roughly $0.30 per token during the initial coin offering. However, a critical detail from the report is that Lohmus cannot currently access the wallet containing these assets, meaning a significant portion of the supply is effectively frozen and removed from market circulation.
While individual holdings capture attention, the report underscores the dominance of institutional entities. The single largest Ethereum address is the ETH2 Beacon Chain deposit contract, containing approximately 82 million staked ETH. Among traditional institutions, Coinbase holds 4.2 million ETH, Binance holds 3.6 million ETH, and BlackRock holds 3 million ETH through various investment vehicles, signaling Ethereum's maturation as an institutional-grade asset.
Separately, blockchain analysts observed a coordinated withdrawal of 32,880 ETH (worth ~$70 million) from the Kraken exchange by four previously dormant wallets. All wallets were created 113 days ago in the same block, suggesting control by a single entity, potentially an institutional player. Such large-scale movements off exchanges are generally viewed as reducing immediate selling pressure, contributing to a potential supply shock on trading platforms.
