Shiba Inu (SHIB) continues to make waves in the crypto world as it has created one of the largest crypto whales seen to date. This early investor now controls a staggering 10% of the SHIB supply, never selling a single token since its early days.
Through the use of Bubblemaps, it has been discovered that this particular entity has 10% of the SHIB supply consolidated in their wallets. As one of the oldest meme tokens with added utility, SHIB’s success can largely be attributed to its early adoption phase, which saw its value skyrocket by thousands of percent.
On-chain analysis further affirms that the SHIB may still be held in the wallets of this early whale. Despite the high value of the holdings, this investor has not liquidated any of the tokens. They are sitting on unrealized gains of a whopping $2.5B.
Interestingly, this whale holds more SHIB than the public wallets of Binance and Robinhood. By refusing to sell during pumps, this whale has enhanced the stability of SHIB.
This significant holder began accumulating SHIB between August and October 2020, purchasing the holdings for a mere 38 ETH. At that time, ETH was valued under $300, making the investment worth around $10,000. The acquisition commenced right after the creation of SHIB in July 2020. The token was launched with a fair distribution, open to anyone wishing to build initial positions.
At one point, the whale’s holdings saw an unrealized gain of up to $5B. To maintain anonymity, the whale split the holdings into 14 addresses initially and later in 2023, the same holdings were split into 150 addresses.
Bubblemaps was able to uncover the whale’s long-term position by using its new Magic Nodes tool, which reveals hidden wallets connected by transfers. Without this connection tracking, the token would appear fully decentralized or held by small wallets.
The identity of this whale has sparked interest. Comments suggest that the pseudonymous buyer may be Shibtoshi_SG, the founder of the SqudGrow project. This masked crypto investor has been a long-time supporter of meme token communities. This large-scale holding does not appear to be an insider wallet prepared for selling, but rather an endorsement for the Shiba Inu project.
Despite competition, SHIB remains ahead in the meme token market with a total valuation of over $115B. It is the second-largest asset with a $14B market capitalization. Its recent rally saw PEPE climb to $8.1B in market capitalization, but SHIB retains its position.
SHIB trades at $0.000025, within the upper bound of its range for 2024. It is represented on various platforms including Binance, Coinbase, Upbit, and has mainstream adoption on Robinhood.
The token hit a yearly peak at $0.00003 and has been waiting for another vertical pump. The rumors of a top crypto personality holding SHIB long-term may boost those chances. SHIB is also expected to rise on a general meme super cycle, expecting another parabolic phase and a reevaluation of the price range.
SHIB token is consolidated in the hands of the top 100 holders, who control over 75% of the supply. Regardless, the token has not shown a pattern of protracted stagnation, as it is held for staking. SHIB is also key to the Shibarium ecosystem, an L2 chain with 1.8M addresses.
The SHIB supply is diminishing due to token burns, which have helped the asset rise from its initial extremely low price. However, its real strength lies in its meme potential and mainstream appeal. With one of the biggest crypto whales backing it, SHIB’s future looks promising.
