Ethereum’s Billion-Dollar Mystery: Rain Lõhmus’s Lost Wallet
In 2014,Rain Lõhmus,an Estonian banker,bought 250,000 ETH during Ethereum’s presale. Today, this stash is worth about $1.18 billion. Though, it’s locked away, unreachable without the lost password and JSON wallet file.
Lõhmus’s story is now part of crypto’s famous “what if” tales, alongside Bitcoin Pizza Day and james Howells’s lost hard drive. The wallet, visible on-chain, has never been accessed. Without the password, recovering the funds is nearly impractical.
Ethereum’s presale encryption uses PBKDF2-HMAC with a unique salt,making brute-force attacks impractical. Even with powerful tools, success depends on strong password hints and the original JSON file.
On-chain records show the wallet has never moved, accumulating airdropped tokens over the years. At today’s market levels,it’s a billion-dollar ghost balance,representing about 0.2% of Ethereum’s circulating supply.
Unlike othre lost crypto fortunes,Lõhmus’s ETH remains fully visible. The distinction lies in the nature of the loss. His coins are preserved in a single address, untouched as Ethereum’s launch.
For Lõhmus, the probability of recovering the funds is negligible without the JSON file and password. If he has both,it could take months or years of engineering effort,with uncertain success.
This tale joins other crypto legends, blending chance, miscalculation, and market prices into a billion-dollar legend. It highlights the importance of secure storage and the risks of losing access to digital assets.
