Arkham releases the latest report listing the top ten most wealthy on-chain cryptocurrency holders estimated based on public blockchain data in 2026. The wealthiest are mainly early holders of Bitcoin or Ethereum, with Satoshi Nakamoto still overwhelmingly in the lead.

The top spot, Satoshi Nakamoto, is approximately $89 billion, and the anonymous creator of Bitcoin remains the undisputed wealthiest on-chain holder. All of this wealth comes from Bitcoin mined in 2009-2010, spread across about 22,000 addresses. This fortune places him in the top 25 global billionaires.
Tron founder Justin Sun has about $1.5 billion, holding large amounts of TRX (1.8 billion tokens, about $610 million), stETH, BTC, and other assets.
The "tragic figure" James Howells, who lost his keys, has about $650 million. He is a Welsh IT worker who mined about 8,000 BTC with his laptop in 2010 and accidentally discarded a hard drive containing the private keys in 2013. It is currently buried in a landfill and cannot be recovered.
Estonian banker Rain Lohmus has about $589 million. In 2014, he participated in an ETH ICO with $75k and received 250k ETH. Due to losing his private keys, these assets are visible but unusable.
Early Bitcoin developer Stefan Thomas has about $569 million. He earned 7,002 BTC by creating an introductory video about Bitcoin. His private key is stored on an IronKey hardware wallet, but he lost the password, leaving only two attempts before the data is permanently erased.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has about $533 million. His wealth mainly comes from ETH allocated at genesis. He also frequently receives airdrops of meme coin projects.
Irish drug dealer Clifton Collins has about $447 million. Between 2011-2012, he acquired 6,000 BTC at around $5 per BTC. His private key was hidden in a fishing rod and lost; he was later arrested. In March 2026, one of his wallets suddenly activated, and authorities recovered about $35 million worth of BTC.
Cobo co-founder and CEO DiscusFish has about $213 million, mainly holding BTC.
POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol) founder Patricio Worthalter has about $149 million, primarily holding ETH and related assets.
Famous trader James Fickel has about $115 million. He bought ETH at a low price in 2016 and still holds about 49k ETH. He previously lost $43 million betting on ETH/BTC and is now focused on neuroscience funding.