The Ethereum ecosystem has been witnessing a fascinating trend of late, as the number of Ethereum whales continues to rise. Known for owning a significant part of the total supply, these astute investors have amassed 30.07 million Ethereum (ETH) worth more than $9 billion in their portfolios.
This increase in holdings marks a substantial increase from the 26.56 million ETH held at the start of the year. The accumulation of Ethereum by these whales not only reflects their confidence in the digital asset, but also hints at continued fervor around the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Ethereum whales and their growing holdings
The growing number of Ethereum whales indicates a notable increase in holdings of addresses that own more than 0.1% of the total supply. IntoTheBlock, an on-chain analytics firm has shed light on this trend, developer the enthusiastic accumulation of ETH by these distinguished market participants.
Such buildup is likely due to several factors, including the growing popularity of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
With Ethereum transitioning from the energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) model to PoS, many ETH holders have been motivated to acquire additional tokens to stake and participate as validators.
It is worth noting that even Ethereum staking deposits have seen a significant increase since the release of the highly anticipated Shanghai update, which introduced key improvements to the Ethereum network, such as enabling ETH staking.
Diverse behavior among Ethereum holders
While Ethereum whales continue to accumulate ETH, it is worth looking at the different behaviors exhibited by various categories of Ethereum holders. In the last 30 days, long-term holders, affectionately known as hodlers, have increased their holdings by 4.54%.
This group of staunch investors have shown unwavering faith in the long-term potential of Ethereum. On the other hand, medium-term or cruise holders experienced a marginal decrease in their balances of 0.38%, while short-term or merchant holders experienced a significant decrease of 17.5%.
It is worth noting that most Ethereum addresses are owned by smaller owners, known as shrimp, who own less than 0.1 ETH.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, institutional investors and the big Ethereum whales have substantial influence over the market. Addresses holding between 1,000 and 100,000 ETH control a significant portion of the coin’s total supply, which currently amounts to an estimated value of approximately $70.09 billion.
Their strategic accumulation and extensive holdings underscore the significant impact these entities have on Ethereum market dynamics, as their movements can influence prices and shape general sentiment.
Meanwhile, regardless of the ETH accumulation from the whales, ETH has been a mix of bulls and bears for the past week. Notably, the asset has only risen 0.7% during this period with daily trading volume ranging from $3 billion to $6 billion.
Over the past 24 hours, ETH has continued a nearly 1% downtrend with a market price of $1,827, as of this writing. Ethereum currently has a 24-hour trading volume of $4.1 billion and a market capitalization in excess of $200 billion.
-Unsplash Featured Image, TradingView Chart
