Vitalik Buterin’s Wealth in Cryptocurrency
Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, continues to rank among the wealthiest individuals in the cryptocurrency sector, as reflected by on-chain data. Public records demonstrate that he currently possesses over 224,000 ETH across various known wallets, a figure that translates to an approximate worth of $439 million when Ethereum’s price is around $1,900.
Initial Allocations and Historical Holdings
Back in 2014 during Ethereum’s presale, around 16.53% of the total 72 million ETH supply was set aside for the project’s founding team, laying the groundwork for Buterin’s substantial wealth in the crypto realm.
Despite the complexity surrounding the exact division of these initial allocations, blockchain analysis indicates that by 2015, Buterin held more than 662,000 ETH, accounting for 0.91% of the entire supply at that time. Recent reports show his known holdings at approximately 224,104 ETH, after experiencing significant fluctuations in market value, meaning his net worth was estimated at around $467 million as of December 2025, despite a previous high of about $2.09 billion in November 2021, attributed to Ethereum’s price surge to $4,891.
Market Fluctuations and Recent Sales
However, this wealth has not been steady; following a downturn in the crypto market, his holdings’ value plunged significantly to about $300 million by the end of 2022. Additionally, Buterin’s recent sales of 2,972 ETH, which generated roughly $6.69 million, have further contributed to this trend, although he has not publicly commented on these transfers, which are linked to his wallets.
Ownership Trends and Other Investments
A comprehensive examination of Buterin’s historical ETH ownership demonstrates a consistent downward trajectory, from 662,810 ETH (0.91% of the supply) at the close of 2015 to just 0.027% of the total supply today. Buterin previously noted in 2018 that he never owned more than 0.9% of total ETH, a statement that aligns with the data.
While ETH tokens constitute over 99% of Buterin’s reported cryptocurrency portfolio, he also holds smaller amounts of tokens such as WHITE, MOODENG, and KNC. Notably, in 2021, he was gifted half of the SHIB (Shiba Inu) token supply, which briefly spiked his net worth to nearly $20 billion, although he later destroyed about 410 trillion of those tokens and donated the remainder to charitable efforts in India.
Corporate Holdings and the Future of Ethereum
Moreover, Buterin has been involved in early investments like StarkWare, a prominent zero-knowledge proof developer valued at $8 billion as of 2022, although the specifics of his shareholdings remain undisclosed. While he emerges as the largest individual ETH holder with accessible tokens, institutional investors currently dominate the top holdings, with the ETH2 Deposit Contract holding an impressive approximately 80,857,848 ETH, as validators are mandated to stake their assets there.
Noteworthy as well are exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase, which also figure prominently in ETH holdings. As the landscape evolves, corporate treasuries have also seen significant expansion, with BitMine Immersion landing as the largest known holder of corporate ETH at around 4,371,497 ETH, showcasing the dynamic nature of crypto asset distribution as we advance into 2026. Other major corporate entities, such as SharpLink and The Ether Machine, have amassed substantial balances as well, further highlighting the competitive sphere surrounding Ethereum holdings.
