Who Really Owns All the Ethereum? On-Chain Study Reveals Surprising Names

Arkham Intelligence published a comprehensive breakdown of the largest Ethereum (ETH) holders in 2026, revealing that staking contracts, exchanges, and financial institutions now control most of the supply.

The report draws on on-chain data from the Arkham Intel Platform and covers entities ranging from centralized exchanges to individual pre-sale investors.

Staking and Exchanges Control Most ETH

The ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract sits at the top of the list with over 82 million ETH, valued at approximately $169 billion.

That figure represents roughly 66% of the total ETH supply, locked by validators securing the network.

Among exchanges, Coinbase leads with 4.2 million ETH ($8.6 billion), followed by Binance with 3.6 million ETH ($7.3 billion).

South Korean exchange Upbit ranks third at 1.7 million ETH. These holdings are custodial, held on behalf of users for trading, withdrawals, and staking services.

On the financial institution side, BlackRock holds over 3 million ETH ($6 billion) through its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF.

Treasury company Bitmine has declared 4.7 million ETH in total, though only 914,000 ETH has been verified on-chain by Arkham.

Bitmine aims to accumulate 5% of the total ETH supply.

Individual Holders and Lost Fortunes

Among individuals, Estonian pre-sale investor Rain Lohmus technically owns the most ETH at 250,000 tokens worth $530 million.

However, he lost access to his private keys after purchasing them for $75,000 during the 2014 presale.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is the largest individual holder with accessible funds, holding 224,000 ETH ($480 million).

Ethereum Foundation Shifts From Selling to Staking

Separately, Arkham reported the Ethereum Foundation staked an additional $46.64 million in ETH, its largest single-day deployment.

That brings the Foundation’s total staked amount to approximately $96.59 million.

The move is part of a broader plan announced in February to stake 70,000 ETH from its treasury. Staking rewards will fund research, ecosystem grants, and protocol development.

The Foundation previously relied on periodic ETH sales, which drew community criticism for creating sell pressure.

With institutions, exchanges, and now the Ethereum Foundation itself locking supply into validators, the distribution of ETH increasingly favors long-term holders over liquid markets.

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