BlockchainBitcoin
|5 min ReadThe world’s biggest crypto whales and their hidden fortunes
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Crypto has created winners, losers and legends. Some built generational wealth. Some lost billions because of a forgotten password or a misplaced hard drive. And one name at the top — Satoshi Nakamoto — still controls a fortune so large that a single movement could shake the entire market. These are the richest on-chain individuals alive today, from the anonymous creator of Bitcoin to early miners, founders and the unlucky giants locked out of their own wallets.
Satoshi reigns over a $115 billion empire
Satoshi Nakamoto sits alone at the top. More than $115 billion worth of Bitcoin is spread across roughly 22,000 addresses mined in the early days. The coins have never moved. Traders watch those wallets like hawks because any activity would send shockwaves through the entire industry.
Satoshi’s fortune ranks him among the world’s richest, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Whether he is one person or a group remains one of the great mysteries in modern finance.
Billionaires, founders and tragic losses define the list
Right behind Satoshi is Justin Sun with about 9 million in tokens moved to exchanges. He controls a sprawling portfolio that shows how aggressive and diversified his strategy has become.
Rain Lohmus sits next with $886 million — a fortune he cannot touch. The Estonian banker bought 250,000 ETH in the 2014 ICO and then lost access to his keys. The coins remain on-chain but permanently out of reach. It is one of crypto’s most famous cautionary tales.
Vitalik Buterin follows closely at about $867 million, mostly Ethereum he received at genesis. He is also the unwilling target of countless meme coins that send him tokens hoping for legitimacy. His wallet remains one of the most scrutinized in the ecosystem.
James Howells, holding roughly $838 million, is another tragedy. He mined 8,000 BTC in 2010, threw out the hard drive in 2013 and has been fighting to dig up the landfill ever since. The coins sit untouched, visible to the world and totally inaccessible.
Forgotten passwords, hardware wallets and old mining fortunes
Stefan Thomas holds around $734 million locked inside an IronKey. Two password attempts remain before the device wipes itself forever. He earned 7,002 BTC for an educational Bitcoin video in 2011. Now he faces one of the most high-stakes guessing games in crypto history.
Clifton Collins once controlled 6,000 BTC, worth about $629 million today. The Irish courts seized the funds after his arrest. The problem is the keys were hidden in a fishing rod that disappeared. The coins are “owned” by the state but effectively frozen forever.
Owen Gunden, once ranked higher, now holds about $561 million. He traded heavily on Mt. Gox and other early exchanges, then shifted into investing. Recent Arkham-tracked movements show him sending 1,800 BTC to Kraken, possibly planning a large sale. Even with that activity, he remains one of the biggest verified whales.
New-era whales shaping modern crypto
Shixing Mao, known as DiscusFish, controls about $275 million across BTC and smaller assets. As co-founder of Cobo and founder of F2Pool, he helped build the early infrastructure of mining and custody in China. His holdings reflect a decade of operational leadership in Bitcoin’s growth.
Patricio Worthalter, with roughly $226 million, built POAP, one of Ethereum’s most culturally sticky tools. His wealth — mostly ETH and WETH — comes from creating a widely adopted piece of Web3 identity infrastructure. His position shows how developers can become whales by shaping critical parts of the ecosystem.
Former top-10 whales still holding massive fortunes
James Fickel, now at about 400,000 of ETH at around 43 million betting ETH against BTC but remains a giant ETH holder. Today he focuses on neuroscience through The Amaranth Foundation while still sitting on more than 57,000 ETH.
Stefan George, with about $106 million, co-founded Gnosis and helped build the multi-signature Safe, now the standard treasury tool for DAOs and crypto companies. His fortune comes from GNO and other long-held assets tied to the project’s early history.
These wallets are a window into crypto’s extremes. Fortunes made, fortunes lost, and fortunes that may never move again. In a market built on code and custody, one forgotten key or one silent founder still shapes the balance of power.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.