2026 ETH Holdings Report: Top 1 Address with Personal Holdings lost its private key, institutions/exchanges dominate the top 20

On February 12, 2026, Gate Market shows ETH at a current price of $1,990. While the vast majority of traders are anxiously watching the fear and greed index hit a historic low of 5, a report titled “Who Owns the Most Ethereum? Top ETH Holders 2026” published by Arkham reveals a structural shift deeper than price fluctuations.

Ethereum’s ownership map has never been so “divided”: on one hand, 63.23% of the supply is permanently or semi-permanently locked in ETH 2 beacon chain deposits; on the other hand, among the top 20 addresses holding ETH across the network, no ordinary individual investors are visible. The only individual holder in the list, Rain Lohmus, owns 250,000 ETH (worth approximately $786 million at current prices), which is forever dormant due to lost private keys. This is not just a story about wealth but a snapshot of the transfer of crypto asset sovereignty from individuals to institutions.

63% of Ethereum is “Offline”: Beacon Contracts Become the Largest Reservoir

According to Arkham’s latest data, the current ETH 2 deposit contract address holds 77,186,906 ETH. At Gate’s today price of $1,972.25, this asset is worth about $241.39 billion, accounting for 63.23% of the total supply.

The symbolic significance of this number far exceeds its financial meaning. When over three-fifths of ETH are locked in staking contracts, it indicates that market liquidity is drying up at an unprecedented rate. Ethereum in 2026 is no longer the free market of 2020 where every large transfer could trigger panic—control of price is shifting from on-chain transfer addresses to professional custodians and contract addresses.

The Sad Leader: 250,000 ETH and a Forever Lost Private Key

Just when everyone thought “personal whales” had disappeared, the name Rain Lohmus appears at the top of the holdings list. The founder of Estonia’s LHV Group spent $75,000 during Ethereum’s ICO in 2014 to buy 250,000 ETH, at a price of just $0.30 each.

This is an asset that has never been moved. The address is fully open-source, transparent on-chain, and completely inaccessible. In 2023, Rain Lohmus publicly admitted on Estonia’s national radio that he had lost the private key for that address. He even stated publicly that he was willing to share part of the assets as a reward if someone could provide a reliable recovery solution.

By February 2026, the value of this asset is fixed at $786 million. Based on Gate’s current spot price, it once surpassed $1.2 billion between 2025 and 2026. This is the largest personal “destruction” in Ethereum history—not through smart contracts, but via a forgotten key.

The Most Accessible Personal Holding: Vitalik Buterin

Excluding Rain Lohmus’s inaccessible address, the largest accessible individual ETH holder remains Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Arkham data shows that Vitalik’s associated address currently holds 240,000 ETH, worth about $754 million. Unlike the “sleeping whale” status of Rain Lohmus, Vitalik’s address exhibits clear signs of activity. Although he has repeatedly stated that his ETH holdings are much lower than in early days, as of 2026, he remains the last respectable individual investor on this list.

Objectively, Vitalik’s holdings are more seen as a symbol of the Ethereum ecosystem’s spirit. When individual holders are retreating before institutions, the founder still ranks in the top 20—this is the last bastion of decentralization left for idealists.

Major Shake-up in the Top 20: Institutions, ETFs, and Exchanges Take Over

The coldest fact in the 2026 holdings report is: after excluding Rain Lohmus’s dormant address, the top 20 are entirely dominated by institutions, exchanges, and ETH 2 staking pools.

Multiple positions are held by cold wallets of exchanges like Kraken, Binance, Gate; trust addresses of Ethereum spot ETFs are rapidly rising; the flow staking protocol Lido’s stETH contract remains at the top. This is a stark contrast to the structure five years ago—no more retail miners hoarding early mined coins, nor tech geeks risking their entire fortunes.

Professional custody is replacing personal holdings. For institutional investors in 2026, storing ETH with compliant custodians or directly on regulated exchanges has become more mainstream than self-custody of private keys. The direct consequence of this trend is that it will become increasingly rare to see individual names on the ownership leaderboard.

Extreme Concentration and Market Sentiment

Structural changes in holdings often precede price discovery.

Today’s market fear and greed index is at 5, one of the lowest readings since the index’s inception. Ethereum’s monthly decline is 32.22%, with prices retracing sharply from the all-time high of $4,946.05. However, on-chain data from Arkham shows that whale addresses are not leaving the market—in fact, they are slowly accumulating.

This is the core contradiction of the Ethereum market in 2026: irrational selling driven by sentiment, while at the same time, the largest-scale “institutional turnover” in history of holdings. 63% of supply is locked on the beacon chain, top holders are professional institutions, and private wallets’ share of chips has shrunk to historic lows—when retail investors are no longer easily shaken, the bottom shape often differs from the past.

Summary

For investors following the Ethereum ecosystem on Gate, this 2026 holdings report should not be simply seen as a “wealthy list,” but as a signal of a fundamental shift in asset pricing logic.

When Rain Lohmus’s 250,000 ETH becomes a on-chain monument, Vitalik’s personal address remains the last psychological anchor for retail investors, and exchanges and ETFs dominate price discovery—investors must adapt to a market where institutional marginal cost pricing prevails.

As of press time, Gate ETH perpetual contract funding rates remain stable, and the spot market shows no extreme premiums. On-chain data indicates strong buy support in the $1,900–$1,920 range. Despite the market’s continued “extreme fear,” structural buyers are no longer emotional retail traders but professional funds relying on models and duration management.

This 2026 Ethereum holdings report is essentially a notarized document of asset transfer across generations. Rain Lohmus, who lost his private keys, stands as a monument inscribed with “Era of Personal Sovereignty”; beyond that monument lies a new battlefield of orderly institutional accumulation.