By Omkar Godbole (All times unless otherwise indicated)

The crypto market has been stagnating along with Bitcoin since Saturday BTC$115,104.99 Again, along with ongoing sales by early adopters or OGS wallets, we were unable to maintain profits above $116,000.

On Sunday, eight years of BTC holders moved over $136 million to polymer meat and began dumping it, according to blockchain analyst LookonChain. The holder is known to have replaced 35,991 BTC with 886,731 ETH in recent months.

Other long-term holders have settled coins in recent months as the market continues to be adjusted to six-figure prices as the new normal for BTC.

However, the latest sales are not only limited to long-term holders. Chain data tracked with GlassNode showed wallets of all sizes returning to coin distribution.

In the case of ether, whale wallets continue to scale exposure, suggesting ether outperformance against bitcoin. However, the etheric Bitcoin ratio for binance fell for the third year in a row, failing to take advantage of the trendline breakouts confirmed on Friday.

Recent outperformers MemeCoins are also under pressure, with Token, Doge and Shib losing 10% and 6% respectively in the last 24 hours.

Solana’s native tokensol traded 2% lower at $234 despite major industry participants taking steps to accelerate the adoption of Solana Native’s distributed finances. (defi).

Kyle Samani, chairman of Solana Treasury Company Forward Industries, registered with NASDAQ, said on X that the company plans to deploy funds to the Solana-based Defi protocol. Last week, the forward raised $1.65 billion in privately owned placements led by Multicoin Capital, Galaxy Digital and Jump Crypto.

Samani was in response to the ideas raised by Anthem, a crypto trader. Anthem has called for the corporate finance fund to invest in Solana-based Defi to boost the network’s Defi appeal in connection with the industry giant Ethereum.

In traditional markets, investors’ positioning in the S&P 500 looked completely biased and bullish. “The emotions are extreme, so be careful about that,” Shortbear said in X.

What to see

• Crypto
• Macros
• Revenue (Estimation based on fact set data)

Token Event

• Governance votes and phone calls
  • Curve DAO is voting to renew its donation-enabled two-crocrypt contract, and refines the donation so as the unlocked portion will last after burns. Voting will end on September 16th.
• Unlock
  • September 15th: StarkNet (strk) To unlock 5.98% of the circulation supply, unlock the supply supply worth $17.09 million.
  • September 15th: 6 Become$0.3194 To unlock 1.18% of the circulating supply, unlock the supply worth $18.06 million.
• Token launch
  • September 15th: Openledger (ovnereling) It will be listed on crypto.com.

meeting

Token talk

Oliver Night

• Monero’s blockchain suffered from the deepest Reorg ever on Monday, rewinding 18 blocks.
• Blockchain reorganization occurs when a node tracks a portion of an existing chain, where it is doing longer work. Shifts occur during a temporary fork where two versions of chains compete.
• Monero’s XMR token remained unshakable during the caterpillar. Increases by 5% despite attacks by Qubic. This is a Layer-1 AI-centric blockchain and mining pool that last month attempted to take over the Monero blockchain by accumulating 51% of its mining power.
• The event rewrites the transaction history for approximately 36 minutes, disabling approximately 118 confirmed transactions, and prompted concerns about network security.
• Crypto Podcaster Xenu claimed it was an attempt to “stop bleeding” XMR prices after the XMR price fell from $344 to $235 during the first 51% attack in August.
• XMR is currently trading at $304, bringing negative sentiment aside, up 78% in daily trading volume to $136 million.

Positioning of derivatives

By Omkar Godbole

• The top 25 coins have experienced a decline in open interest in futures (Hey) Over the past 24 hours, Memecoins such as Doge, Pepe and Fartcoin have registered double-digit capital outflows. This contrasts with the pre-covered bounce seen in most tokens.
• BTC’s Global Futures oi Tally returned to 720k BTC last week from a nearly record high of 744k BTC. Total OI across the market has returned to $90 billion from $95 billion over the weekend.
• ETH tally shows new capital inflows, growing from around 13.2 million ether to over 14 million ether earlier this month. However, this does not necessarily indicate a bullish position. (CVD) ETH has been negative for the past 24 hours. It is a sign of net sales pressure.
• Most major tokens have seen negative CVDs for the past 24 hours.
• Activities on futures registered with the CME appear to be gaining pace, bounced back from a high low of 133.25k BTC earlier this week to 141.69k BTC. The annual rate for three months is below 10%, extending the consolidation. ETH’s CME OI remains below 2 million ether.
• Deribit biases BTC and ETH has been significantly mitigated in all tenors as the market expects Fed rate reductions in the coming months. The implicit volatility term structure remains in Contango, and its December expiration date is expected to be more unstable.

Market movements

• BTC is down 1.1% from 4pm on Friday at $114,933.52 (24 hours: -1%)
• ETH is down 3.1% at $4,528.04 (24 hours: -3.22%)
• Coindesk 20 is down 2.73% at 4,245.39 (24 hours: -3.35%)
• Ether CESR Composite staking rate is 2.82%, down 2 bps
• BTC’s funding rate is 0.0081% (8.829% per year) About Vinanence

• DXY has not changed at 97.48
• Gold futures fell 0.29% to $3,675.80
• Silver futures fell 0.56% at $42.59
• Nikkei 225 closed 0.89% at 44,768.12
• Hang Seng rose 0.22% to 26,446.56
• FTSE is down 0.1% at 9,273.57
• The Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.6% at 5,423.13
• DJIA fell 0.59% on Friday at 45,834.22
• The S&P 500 was unchanged at 6,584.29
• NASDAQ Composite rose 0.44% at 22,141.10
• S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.42% at 29,283.82
• S&P 40 Latin America has been closed with a change at 2,857.80
• The US 10-year financial ratio has not changed at 4.059%
• E-Mini S&P 500 futures are no different at 6,594.50
• E-Mini Nasdaq-100 futures remain unchanged at 24,098.00
• The e-mini dow Jones Industrial Average Index is up 0.22% at 45,957.00

Bitcoin statistics

• BTC dominance: 58.11% (0.57%)
• Ether to Bitcoin ratio: 0.03938 (-1.38%)
• Hashrate (7-day moving average):025 eh/s
• Hashpris (spot): $53.81
• Total fee: 3.13 BTC/$362,347
• CME Futures Open Interest: 141,690 BTC
• BTC priced in gold: 31.5 oz
• BTC vs. Gold Market Cap: 8.90%

Technical Analysis

• Doge fell from 30.7 cents to 26 cents, and it penetrated the bullish trend line from its September 6th low.
• The breakdown suggests the momentum of the updated seller.
• Prices are also accepted below the one-sided cloud. Crossovers under the cloud are said to represent a bearish shift in trends.

Crypto stocks

• Coinbase Global (coin): Closed on Friday at $323.04 (-0.28%)-0.34% is $321.95 in front of the market
• Round (CRCL): Closed at $125.32 (-6.27%)+1.81% 127.59 dollars
• Galaxy Digital (glxy): Closed at $29.70 (+2.88%)-0.47% at $29.56
• strong (blsh): Closed at $51.84 (-3.98%)+1.72% $52.73
• Mala Holdings (Mara): Closed at $16.31 (+3.82%)-0.67% at $16.20
• Riot Platform (Riol): Closed at $15.89 (+1.53%)-0.44% at $15.82
• Core Scientific (Colts): Closed at $15.86 (+1.99%)-0.38% at $15.80
• CleanSpark (CLSK): Closed for $10.35 (+1.47%)not changed in previous markets
• Coinshares Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners etf (WGMI): Closed at $37.32 (+4.63%)
• Escape movement (exod): Closed at $28.36 (-1.73%)not changed in previous markets

Cryptocurrency company

• strategy (MSTR): Closed at $331.44 (+1.66%)-0.53% 329.68 dollars
• Semler Scientific (SMLR): Closed at $29.19 (+2.28%)
• Sharplink Games (sbet): Closed for $17.7 (+8.19%)-2.26% at $17.30
• Upexi (upxi): Closed at $6.76 (+18.93%)+1.55% at $6.86
• Light Strategy (Lt): Closed at $3.07 (+10.43%)

ETF Flow

Spot BTC ETF

• Daily Net Flow: $642.4 million
• Cumulative net flow: $567.9 billion
• Total BTC holdings: 1.31 million

Spot ETH ETF

• Daily Net Flow: $455.5 million
• Cumulative net flow: $133.8 billion
• Total ETH holdings: 648 million

Source: Farside Investors

While you’re asleep

• As minus-side fears go ahead of Fed rate reductions, what’s next for Bitcoin and Ether? (Coindesk): Amberdata’s Greg Magadini says regular quarter point cuts could mean gradual gains, but half-point moves could trigger an explosive rally of BTC, ETH, SOL and gold.
• The Bank of England’s proposed stablecoin ownership restrictions are ineffective, Cryptogroup says (Coindesk): Executives say that the UK’s proposed cap enforces innovation pushing overseas and may not be able to take risks, but US and EU regulations set standards without limiting their holdings.
• LSE Group launches a blockchain platform for access with private funds (Bloomberg): LSEG’s digital market infrastructure was built to increase efficiency and used in MemberCap funding for MCM Fund 1, where Crypto Exchange Archax plays the role of candidates.
• The Trump administration has claimed vast power to compete to fire federal governors before meeting (New York Times): In a filing in the federal court of appeals Sunday, Justice Department lawyers argued that Trump’s authority to expel Gov. Lisa Cook was both “reviewiewiseable” and “reasonable.”
• BOE expects to put a key rate on hold, but slowly and quantitatively tightening (Wall Street Journal): Indications of internal resistance question short-term rate cuts, with four MPC members opposed the final move, and BOE Governor Andrew Bailey warning inflationary pressure complicating policy choices.

Key takeaways: 

• Around 70% of all ETH is held by just 10 addresses, but most belong to staking contracts, exchanges or funds, not individual whales.

• Nearly half of all ETH sits in a single smart contract: the Beacon Deposit Contract that powers Ethereum’s proof-of-stake system.

• Big institutions like BlackRock, Fidelity and listed companies now hold millions of ETH, turning Ether into a serious treasury asset.

• ETH ownership has moved on from early adopters. Today, it’s all about the platforms and services building on top of it.

As of August 2025, onchain data shows that the top 10 Ether (ETH) holders control around 83.9 million ETH (about 70% of the total circulating supply).

So, the community has started asking: Who actually holds the majority of ETH? The answer points to protocol-level smart contracts, major exchanges, exchange-traded fund (ETF) trusts and even public companies.

This article explores the Ether rich list of 2025, from the Beacon staking contract and Coinbase’s hot wallets to BlackRock’s ETHA trust and Vitalik Buterin’s legendary holdings.

Top Ether addresses by balance

Ether’s circulating supply as of mid‑2025 stands at approximately 120.71 million ETH. Following the Pectra upgrade in May, issuance has stabilized near net zero. This provides the backdrop for understanding Ether ownership distribution.

As briefly explored, the top 10 Ether addresses hold 83.9 million ETH as of Aug. 4, 2025 (roughly 70% of the total supply). 

Looking wider, the top 200 wallets account for over 52%, holding more than 62.76 million ETH (most of these holdings are tied to staking contracts, exchange liquidity, token bridges or custodial funds). Unlike inactive Bitcoin whale addresses, these Ether whale addresses are actively used infrastructure, which reflects ETH’s ability to adequately power staking, decentralized finance (DeFi) and institutional operations.

Who owns the most Ether in 2025?

As of Aug. 4, 2025, the Beacon Deposit Contract holds approximately 65.88 million ETH, representing about 54.58% of the total circulating supply of 120.71 million ETH. 

These figures are broadly consistent with March 2025 reports, which estimated the share at around 55.6% (see figure below).

This smart contract is the entry point for Ethereum validators, each of whom must deposit at least 32 ETH to participate in securing the network.

Even after withdrawal functionality was enabled in 2023, funds aren’t instantly liquid. Validators must exit the active set, wait around 27 hours for the unbonding period and then rely on a protocol-controlled sweep to release ETH. 

This makes the Beacon contract the largest ETH holder — not a person, but the network itself. 

With slashing penalties and structured exits, it ensures validator accountability. Still, some critics argue that concentrating half the supply in a single contract introduces systemic risks in the event of coordinated exits or protocol-level bugs.

Did you know? The Wrapped Ether (WETH) smart contract also ranks as one of the largest ETH holders, currently holding over 2.26 million ETH (around 1.87% of the circulating supply).

The second-largest ETH wallets

As of Aug. 22, 2025, these exchanges and custodians rank among the largest ETH holders:

• Coinbase: 4.93 million ETH (around 4.09% of supply)

• Binance: 4.23 million ETH (around 3.51%)

• Bitfinex: 3.28 million ETH (around 2.72%)

• Base Network bridge: 1.71 million ETH (around 1.4%)

• Robinhood: 1.66 million ETH (around 1.37%)

• Upbit: 1.36 million ETH (around 1.13%).

These addresses represent a layer of active infrastructure where Ether is used for the purpose of backing exchange liquidity, staking derivatives like cbETH and bridging assets across chains. 

Biggest ETH wallets in 2025

As of late July 2025, BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) drove a major shift in institutional ETH ownership. With $9.74 billion in net inflows, ETHA now (August 2025) holds over 3 million ETH (about 2.5% of the total supply), making it one of the biggest ETH wallets of 2025.

Grayscale’s ETHE remains a key player, with 1.13 million ETH under management. Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH), launched in 2024, has reached $1.4 billion in inflows, while Bitwise is pivoting from Bitcoin-only exposure to ETH-based mandates with staking features.

Together, these institutions now control over 5 million ETH (4.4% of supply), thus changing the picture for ETH holding patterns. They represent a new class of DeFi millionaires who are regulated, ETF-based and staking-aware. 

Corporate Ether whale addresses

A growing number of public companies is now following a playbook similar to Strategy’s Bitcoin (BTC) plan (but with staking) to treat ETH as a treasury asset. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) holds more than 776,000 ETH (around $2 billion), funded by a $250-million PIPE round.

• SharpLink Gaming (Nasdaq: SBET) has acquired around 480,000 ($1.65 billion) since June.

• Bit Digital (Nasdaq: BTBT) holds around 120,000 ETH, having moved from Bitcoin post-equity raise.

• BTCS (Nasdaq: BTCS) reports around 70,028 ETH (around $275 million), funded by convertible notes.

Most of this ETH is actively staked and earns around 3%-5% APY. These firms cite Ethereum’s programmability, stablecoin ecosystem and regulatory clarity (like the GENIUS Act) as the foundation for their ETH strategies. 

This new ETH billionaire list includes not just individuals but corporate treasuries betting on Ether’s long-term value.

The ETH billionaire list

While smart contracts and institutions dominate the Ethereum rich list 2025, a few individuals still stand out as major ETH holders.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, is widely believed to hold between 250,000 and 280,000 ETH (around $950 million), mostly across a small number of non-custodial wallets, including the well-known VB3 address.

Rain Lõhmus, co-founder of LHV Bank, bought 250,000 ETH during the 2014 initial coin offering (ICO) but lost access to the private key. His coins remain untouched, now worth close to $900 million.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, early investors and founders of Gemini, are thought to personally control 150,000-200,000 ETH, separate from Gemini’s exchange treasury of over 360,000 ETH.

Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and head of ConsenSys, is estimated to retain approximately 500,000 ETH (around $1.2 billion), though it has never been officially confirmed.

Anthony Di Iorio, another Ethereum co-founder, reportedly holds 50,000-100,000 ETH.

Did you know? As of early 2025, Etherscan data showed over 130 million unique addresses, yet fewer than 1.3 million hold at least 1 ETH, less than 1% of the total. That single ETH puts you in rare company on the Ether rich list of 2025.

How to track Ethereum ownership distribution

Identifying the top Ether holders in 2025 relies on tools like Nansen’s Token God Mode, Dune Analytics and Etherscan. These platforms categorize wallets by behavior, linking them to exchanges, funds, smart contracts or individuals.

• Token God Mode maps wallet clusters to known entities, tracks inflows/outflows and ranks the biggest ETH wallets in 2025. 

• Dune dashboards use schema tables like “labels.addresses” to separate externally owned accounts (EOAs) from smart contracts and exchanges, generating insights into public Ethereum addresses and ETH holding patterns.

• Etherscan tags wallets based on transaction history, attribution or user-submitted evidence, supporting crypto wallet transparency. Together, these sources help outline Ether ownership distribution.

However, limits remain. Reused deposit addresses can inflate figures, cold wallets may evade clustering, and privacy techniques obscure real control. Even the top 200 Ethereum addresses by balance likely include fragmented or mislabeled entities. ETH address rankings reflect a mix of certainty and statistical inference, not full visibility.

Did you know? One of the oldest untouched ETH wallets (likely from the 2014 ICO) still holds around 250,000 ETH (around 0.2% of supply) and hasn’t moved a gwei in nearly a decade.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

This is a daily analysis by CoinDesk analyst and Chartered Market Technician Omkar Godbole.

Bitcoin: Powell brings bearish lower high

Bitcoin BTC$111,747.10 has retraced to levels last seen before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish remarks on Friday, which set expectations for a potential rate cut in September.

At the time of writing, BTC is trading just above $112,000, having peaked at around $117,440 on Friday. Technical scrutiny of the daily chart reveals that the pullback from the $117,000 peak has established a lower high in close proximity to the resistance line defined by the previous bullish trendline originating from the April lows.

This lower high reinforces the prior trendline breakdown, signaling a continuation of bearish price action. Complementing this observation, the Guppy Multiple Moving Average (GMMA) indicator is poised to confirm a bearish momentum shift, highlighted by the imminent crossover of the short-term exponential moving averages (white band) below the longer-term averages (red band).

On the weekly chart, the MACD histogram has initiated the new trading week with a sub-zero reading, highlighting the potential acceleration of downward momentum.

In summary, what do you say about a market that not only resists a sustainable rally on the back of favorable news – such as Powell’s speech – but also maintains a series of bearish technical patterns? I’ll leave it to the readers’ discretion.

Key technical support lies at the $110,756 level, corresponding to the lower boundary of the Ichimoku cloud, with a more substantial support zone marked by the 200-day simple moving average near $100,000. Conversely, reclaiming Friday’s high of $117,440 is essential to resurrect the bullish case.

• Support: $110,756, $100,887, $100,000.
• Resistance: $117,440, $120,000, $122,056.

Ether: Loss of upward momentum

Ether (ETH) printed a doji candle with a prominent upper wick on Sunday, signaling market indecision at record highs. This candlestick pattern forms when the opening and closing prices converge, reflecting a stalemate between buyers and sellers.

However, the relatively long upper shadow, in this case, means that the bull’s attempts to push prices higher faced significant pushback from bears, who managed to pull the price back down before the close.

While the doji itself does not guarantee a reversal, it highlights uncertainty and a possible loss of upward momentum. It warrants caution as it often precedes a potential reversal or a consolidation phase where the market awaits further catalysts for direction.

A pullback appears likely, as the 14-day relative strength index continued to print lower highs over the weekend, contradicting the new price high. The so-called bearish divergence indicates a loss of upward momentum and often yields corrections.

Interestingly, ether traded 3% lower on the day at $4,624 at press time, with charts indicating support at $4,065, the level from which ETH turned higher on August 20.

• Support: $4,065, $4,000, $3,805 (the 50-day SMA).
• Resistance: $5,000, record highs.

Read more: Bitcoin Reverses Powell Spike With a Flash Crash as Options Market Signals Jitters Ahead

Ethereum’s rally this month has been sharp, but traders are being warned to watch September closely.

Related Reading

Ether climbed about 20% since the start of August, trading at $4,745 at the time of publication. Prices even pierced $4,860 after dovish remarks from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium, a move that many in crypto see as a possible spark for more gains.

Historic September Pullbacks

According to CoinGlass, history offers a cautionary note: there have been only three cases since 2016 where Ether rose in August and then slid in September.

In 2017, Ether jumped 92% in August and then dropped 20% the following month. In 2020, August gains of 25% were followed by a 17% pullback in September.

And in 2021, a 35% climb in August gave way to a 12% slip in September. CryptoGoos, a trader on X, summed it up bluntly: seasonality in September during post-halving years tends to be negative.

$ETH seasonality in September during post-halving years is typically negative.

Will this time be different? pic.twitter.com/h9hJ40V3np

— CryptoGoos (@crypto_goos) August 22, 2025

That pattern does not mean a repeat is guaranteed. Reports have disclosed that both market structure and investor profiles are different now than in those earlier years.

In 2016 and 2020, short-term losses in September were followed by multi-month recoveries, with Ether posting upside in the final three months of those years. So while history matters, it does not decide outcomes on its own.

New Money, New Dynamics

Flows into spot Ether ETFs this month have been large enough to grab attention. Based on reports from Farside, spot Ether ETFs saw roughly $2.70 billion net inflows in August, while spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced about $1.2 billion in net outflows over the same period.

At the same time, companies that hold crypto on their balance sheets now control a sizable chunk of Ether. Reports show total Ether held by treasury companies topped $13 billion in value on Aug. 11.

Arkham reported that BitMine chairman Tom Lee bought another $45 million of Ether, lifting BitMine’s stack to $7 billion.

Those numbers change the math. Big institutional stacks and ETF demand can make sharp, short-term moves more persistent than in prior cycles.

Capital appears to be rotating; Bitcoin dominance has fallen 5% over the past 30 days to 55%, which market participants mostly attribute to funds moving into assets beyond Bitcoin.

Related Reading

What Traders Might Do Next

Traders and portfolio managers will likely keep an eye on macro signals and flow data. A softer interest rate outlook from Powell is a bullish factor for risk assets, but seasonality and previous post-August declines are reasons to stay cautious.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Author

Sujha Sundararajan

Author

Sujha Sundararajan

About Author

Sujha has been recognised as Women In Crypto 2024 by BeInCrypto for her leadership in crypto journalism.

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Last updated: 

August 22, 2025

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has expressed optimism about Ethereum’s price trajectory, predicting that the world’s second-largest crypto would hit $20,000.

In a recent interview, Hayes said that he has bought back some of the ETH sold. “The chart says it’s going higher, so you can’t fight the market.”

“I think ETH goes $10,000 to $20,000 before the end of the cycle,” he said. “Once it’s broken through, then you know there’s a gap of air to the upside.”

Comparing between ETH and Solana (SOL), he currently overweights on ETH, indicating a strong preference for Ethereum in his current investment strategy.

“My base case is we are going to have a massive bull market and all types of financial assets connected to anything that President Trump believes is important now.”

Last week, Hayes bought $8.4 million in ETH, accumulating 1,500 ETH, alongside substantial positions in blue-chip DeFi tokens, including LDO, ETHFI, and PENDLE.

Ethereum Would Outperform Solana in Bull Run: Arthur Hayes

When asked about Hayes’s preference between the rise in Solana and Ethereum prices now and the end of the cycle, he said both assets would show a bullish trajectory.

“They are both going to go up, but the question is which asset could go up more,” he noted.

He said that Solana would probably not surpass Ethereum in the bull run, but said that it would be a “bigger asset move.”

Is ETH Breakout Imminent?

Ethereum fell 0.64% in the past 24 hours to $4,289, per CoinMarketCap data. The token has slightly bounced back and is seen trading at $4,306 at press time.

However, the significant demand for a spot ETH ETF, along with massive institutional inflows, including companies like Bitmine and Sharplink Gaming acquiring over 2 million ETH since June, has contributed to the recent surge in ETH prices.

The crypto has surged over 15% over the last 30 days, hitting a local high of $4,700 last week and inching closer to an all-time high.

The crypto billionaire’s $20k call isn’t wild if macro and ETF demand align. For now, the crypto community is keeping a close eye on Hayes’ wallet activity, particularly as more capital flows into mid-cap Ethereum ecosystem tokens.