The rise of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization to $4,500 is attributed to accumulation by key ‘millionaires’ and ‘small billionaires’—whales holding between 1,000 ETH and 100,000 ETH. Analysts at Santiment made this observation.
🐳 Ethereum has crept back up to nearly $4.5K, with accumulation coming from the key ‘millionaire’ and ‘small billionaire’ whales and sharks that hold between 1K and 100K $ETH. In exactly 5 months, they have added 14.0% more coins.
🔗 Link to chart: https://t.co/F3qGKbiF65 pic.twitter.com/oK7wdqp685
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) September 3, 2025
Since April 3, major players have increased their holdings by 14%, acquiring 5.54 million ETH (~$24.2 billion at the time of writing).
In total, Ethereum whales hold 42.5 million ETH valued at $186.4 billion—approximately 35% of the circulating supply.
Meanwhile, the supply of ether on exchanges continues to plummet, reaching three-year lows. According to CryptoQuant, trading platform reserves are now at 17.26 million ETH compared to 28.8 million ETH in September 2022.
Who Owns Ethereum
As previously noted, 35% of the available 120.7 million ETH are held in whale wallets.
Meanwhile, according to SoSoValue, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs manage 6.6 million ETH—5.42% of the issuance.
Gaining popularity, companies with treasury holdings in the second-largest cryptocurrency have also absorbed a significant volume of coins. Seventy-one organizations hold 4.71 million ETH worth $20.63 billion, representing 3.89% of the total supply.
The largest share among them belongs to Bitmine Immersion Tech—1.87 million ETH or 1.54% of the issuance.
However, it is incorrect to sum the figures for whales, ETFs, and treasuries, as wallets from these categories may overlap.
Earlier in September, an expert warned of risks for public treasuries of the second-largest cryptocurrency. According to SharpLink co-founder Joseph Shalom, the pursuit of yield from holding Ethereum poses significant risks for companies.