Report: $3.5 Billion Held by Top 5 Crypto Whales
Arkham Intelligence, a well-known blockchain data firm, has unveiled the top 5 crypto whales, public wallet addresses that collectively possess an astonishing $3.5 billion in digital assets.
Despite these massive holdings, a significant portion of approximately 35% or $1.21 billion is currently inaccessible due to lost private keys and passwords.
Leading the pack is Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron network, with a reported $1.06 billion in his crypto wallet. Sun’s holdings primarily consist of $275 million in Decentralized USD (USDD) and $237 million in Tron’s native token, TRX. While Sun’s dominance in the crypto space is evident, it is important to note that a considerable amount of his wealth is tied up in his own stablecoin and Tron tokens.
In the second position is Rain Lõhmus, the founder of Estonia-based LHV Bank, who holds $769 million worth of Ether. Unfortunately, these funds are inaccessible as Lõhmus has lost access to his private key, rendering his massive Ethereum holdings currently unreachable.
Securing the third spot is Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin with $757 million, primarily in Ethereum. Buterin’s substantial holdings consist of 245,425 ETH tokens. While he maintains a significant Ethereum portfolio, his active involvement in the community and development of Ethereum is well-known in the crypto world.
Former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas occupies the fourth position with $442 million in Bitcoin. However, Thomas’s Bitcoin holdings have been flagged as inaccessible after he lost the password to an encrypted hard drive containing details of his cryptocurrency. Despite offers from crypto recovery firms, Thomas remains unable to access over 7,000 Bitcoin he acquired in 2011.
Venture capitalist James Fickel is among the top five, holding $436 million in various digital currencies. Fickel’s diverse crypto portfolio showcases the range of assets that high-profile investors are accumulating in the digital realm.
Other significant crypto wallets in Arkham’s top ten include early adopter Patricio Worthalter, who holds $219 million primarily in Ethereum, and Winslow Strong, a General Partner at Cluster Capital, who is listed with $27.5 million worth of digital assets.