A look inside Vitalik Buterin’s wallet: how much Ethereum (ETH) does he actually own?

Arkham data shows that most of Buterin’s wealth is directly tied to token price movements rather than diversified investments.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin owns more than 240,000 ETH, currently valued at around $467 million, according to blockchain intelligence platform Arkham’s research into his on-chain holdings.

The analysis found that Buterin is the largest accessible individual holder of Ethereum, although institutional players and exchange portfolios dominate the top ETH holdings.

Buterin’s portfolio composition and recent transactions

The Arkham study, published February 17 as long as a detailed overview of Buterin’s known crypto assets. His Ethereum holdings have gradually decreased over the years, from 662,810 ETH in December 2015, which represented 0.91% of the total supply, to the current 240,010 ETH, which now represents approximately 0.20% of all ETH in circulation.

This reduction comes from both the periodic sales and the network’s inflationary supply increasing over time. In addition to ETH, Buterin has smaller positions in several tokens, including 10 billion WHITE worth approximately $1.16 million, 30 billion MOODENG tokens worth approximately $442,000, and 869,509 KNC tokens.

His wallet also contains approximately $11,000 worth of Tornado Cash’s TORN token, reflecting the privacy mixer’s past use for donations, including money sent to Ukraine. Recent on-chain activity shows that Buterin has transferred significant amounts in line with his public commitments, including a withdrawal of 16,384 ETH in late January 2026, worth approximately $43 million at current prices, to support the development of open source infrastructure.

This followed his announcement that the Ethereum Foundation is entering a period of “mild budget cuts,” with Buterin personally taking on funding responsibilities for certain projects to ensure the Foundation’s long-term sustainability. Subsequent sales of approximately 2,961 ETH over three days in early February, worth approximately $6.6 million, were routed through the CoW Protocol using small swaps to minimize market impact.

Arkham’s assessment of the broader landscape of Ethereum holders found that institutions and exchanges take the top spots. For example, the ETH2 beacon deposit contract comprises more than 60% of the total supply, with Binance, BlackRock and Coinbase among the largest entities.

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Notably, the largest individual holder is Rain Lohmus, who owns 250,000 ETH worth $786 million. However, these funds are inaccessible due to lost private keys, a situation that Lohmus publicly acknowledged in 2023.

Wealth trajectory and philanthropic focus

Buterin’s net worth has closely followed Ethereum’s volatile price history, as ETH makes up more than 99% of his known portfolio. He briefly reached billionaire status in 2021 when the token surpassed $3,000, while his holdings peaked at $2.09 billion in November that year.

Nevertheless, the ensuing bear market reduced his wealth by almost 75% by December 2022. In 2025, rising ETH prices pushed its net worth back above $1 billion at an all-time high in August near $5,000, although recent market corrections that pushed ETH below $2,000 have brought valuations back to current levels.

Its wealth came mainly from the pre-sale of Ethereum in 2014, in which 16.53% of the initial supply of 72 million ETH was allocated to the founders. A $100,000 Thiel Fellowship grant that same year allowed Buterin to leave the University of Waterloo and dedicate himself fully to Ethereum development.

Unlike many crypto founders who have built substantial stakes in centralized companies, Buterin’s wealth remains almost entirely liquid and directly tied to the network he helped create.