Vitalik Buterin Holds ~240k ETH — Mostly ETH, Recent Small Withdrawals

Published: 2026-02-21 18:45:03 |

Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham identifies Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin as one of the largest accessible individual ETH holders, with roughly 240,010 ETH (≈$467M). His disclosed holdings have declined from 662,810 ETH in 2015 (0.91% of supply) to about 0.20% of supply today, reflecting periodic sales and dilution. Known assets are highly concentrated in ETH (over 99%), with minor balances in tokens like WHITE, MOODENG, KNC and small historic TORN/SHIB movements. Recent on-chain activity recorded by Arkham includes a late‑January 2026 withdrawal of 16,384 ETH (≈$43M) reportedly to fund open‑source infrastructure, and approximately 2,961 ETH (≈$6.6M) sold via CoW Protocol in early February to reduce market impact. Other trackers previously flagged smaller transfers (2,972 ETH) over three days with no public comment. Arkham notes institutional and staking entities hold far larger ETH pools (e.g., the ETH2 beacon/deposit contract and exchange custody wallets); an inaccessible lost-key wallet holds ~250,000 ETH. Buterin’s USD net worth remains driven primarily by ETH price cycles rather than wallet moves. For traders: Vitalik’s wallet activity is a useful liquidity and sentiment signal but recent withdrawals/sells are not large enough to materially change overall supply — price swings in ETH remain the dominant risk and opportunity.

Neutral

The news signals notable but limited on‑chain moves by a high‑profile individual holder. Recent withdrawals (16,384 ETH) and smaller sales (~2,961 ETH and prior ~2,972 ETH transfers) are large in dollar terms but small relative to total ETH supply and institutional/staking pools. As a result, these actions are more relevant as liquidity and sentiment indicators than as direct supply shocks. Traders may react to perceived intent (funding open‑source work, staged sales via CoW to limit impact), prompting short‑term volatility or local liquidity changes on DEXs and OTC desks. However, long‑term price direction remains tied to broader market drivers — macro risk appetite, ETF/institutional flows, staking dynamics, and on‑chain activity at scale (exchanges, ETH2 deposits). Therefore, expect potential short‑term market noise around these transactions but no sustained directional pressure on ETH price solely from Buterin’s moves.