Data shows that billionaire-sized ethereum wallets now control nearly a third of all supply, the highest level since 2016.
ethereum addresses with at least 1 million eth now account for 32.3% of supply
According to data from the on-chain analysis firm Holy, ethereum whales with over 1 million eth have increased their holdings recently. The relevant indicator here is “Supply Distribution”, which tracks the percentage of ethereum supply each investor pool currently holds.
Holders or addresses are divided into these groups based on the number of coins they have in their balances. The 100-1000 coin cohort, for example, includes all investors who own at least 100 and at most 1000 eth.
In the context of the current discussion, ethereum investors with 1 million or more eth are of interest. At current exchange rates, this threshold amount is worth just under $1.6 billion.
As such, this group includes the largest whales in the network. Given the large size of their holdings, these huge entities would also naturally be the most influential in the market.
Here’s a chart showing how the supply of these ethereum billionaires has changed over the past few months:
<img decoding="async" class="alignnone aligncenter" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Ethereum-Billionaires-Now-Control-a-Third-of-Supply.jpeg" alt="ethereum Billionaire Whales” width=”2715″ height=”1763″/>
The value of the metric seems to have been going up in recent weeks | Source: Santiment on X
As shown in the chart above, ethereum wallets with at least 1 million eth now control a combined 32.3% of the cryptocurrency’s total circulating supply.
This is the majority of the supply these mega whales have held since July 2016. While on the one hand it is a positive sign that major investors are currently accumulating the asset; On the other hand, this raises concerns about the centralization of the asset.
Ideally, a cryptocurrency would be decentralized among its users, with the largest hands not controlling too much of a significant portion of the total supply. This is especially relevant in the case of ethereum, which is a currency that makes use of a consensus mechanism based on “Proof of Stake” (PoS).
In a PoS system, validators lock their coins in the staking contract and have the opportunity to handle transactions. The higher your bet, the higher the chance of being selected. In theory, a single entity with 51% of the supply committed could take control of the entire network.
Obviously, these multi-billion dollar whales don’t control a supply anywhere near this amount yet, but the current level of network centralization could still be something worth paying attention to.
In some more encouraging news, the total number of ethereum wallets holding any balance has surpassed the 100 million mark, a new milestone for the asset’s adoption, as data from market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock shows.
<img decoding="async" class="alignnone aligncenter" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/1697638123_380_Ethereum-Billionaires-Now-Control-a-Third-of-Supply.jpeg" alt="ethereum Addresses” width=”680″ height=”680″/>
The adoption of the asset continues to take hold | Source: IntoTheBlock on X
eth Price
ethereum is currently trading around the $1,580 mark after having recovered a bit from its low of $1,550 yesterday.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-medium aligncenter" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Ethereum-Billionaires-Now-Control-a-Third-of-Supply" alt="ethereum price chart” width=”1534″ height=”869″/>
eth has struggled to gain upwards momentum recently | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView
Featured image by Kanchanara on Unsplash.com, TradingView.com charts, Santiment.net, IntoTheBlock.com
