According to recent data from Into the Block, an on-chain analytics firm, the number of Ethereum whales have been on rise. The whale investors are those investors who hold a large chunk of the total holding i.e. a significant number of coins.
Data suggests that these holders now own over a massive 30.07 million Ethereum (ETH). The current holdings mark a significant rise from the 26.56 million Ethereum which were held at the start of this year.
Reportedly, this growth of holdings among the whales represent an increase in holdings of addresses that own over 0.1% of the supply. In turn, it also suggests ongoing and enthusiastic accumulation of the world’s second largest digital currency by market capitalization.
Meanwhile, the market is observing a striking difference in behavior among various groups of Ethereum holders. In the past 30 days, long-term holders, or as they are frequently called hodlers (holding their coins for over a year), have increased their holdings by 4.54%.
Conversely, midterm holders, or cruisers (holding for 1-12 months), saw a slight decrease in their balance by 0.38%, and short-term holders, or traders (holding for less than a month), saw a significant decrease by 17.5% Notably, when considering all the types of holders, the vast majority of addresses are the shrimps which hold less than 0.1 Ethereum, accounting for a relatively minor percentage of the total coins.
Simultaneously, on the other end of the band, the addresses holding between 1,000 and 100,000 ETH, which primarily consists of institutional investors and whales, represent a significant portion of the coin’s total supply. Their current holding value is estimated to be approximately $70.09 billion, underlining the profound influence these entities have over the Ethereum market.
The increasing accumulation of whales also kept in tandem with the declining balance of the asset on the exchanges. Data suggests that the Ethereum exchange balance has dropped to a five-year low. Currently, the number of Ethereum being held on exchanges stands at 17.86 million. Reportedly, this is the lowest value since April 2018.
Notably, crypto whales are preferring Ethereum even over Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. As reported by Toadyq News, a vast difference was observed in the distribution of these cryptocurrencies. Amongst both, Ethereum has a significantly higher percentage of its supply held by whales as compared to Bitcoin.
As of February 26, data suggested that around 39% of the total supply of Ethereum was concentrated among large addresses i.e. whale wallets. This was in contrast to Bitcoin, where whales held only 11% of the total supply. As of writing, Ethereum is trading at $1,823.85, a 1% increase over the past day and over 1.03% surge over the past 5 days.