Cryptocurrency Shiba Inu’s surge could be influenced by crypto whales

Almost 70.52 percent of SHIB's circulation is controlled by eight whale accounts, of which one whale holds 41.03 percent.

Shiba inu, a meme inspired cryptocurrency and a Dogecoin spinoff, has hit an all time high. (Photo: Twitter/ Shiba Inu)

Cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB), which started off as a Dogecoin spin-off has gained massive popularity to a point where its market capitalisation surpassed that of its rival—Dogecoin (DOGE). The rise was speculated to be fuelled after tech billionaire Elon Musk, tweeted a photograph of the SHIB coin going to the Moon on October 18. However, a new data by crypto research firm Into the Block, reveals that eight whales— could be largely responsible for SHIB’s skyrocketing surge.

Crypto whales are individuals or institutions who hold large amounts of coins of a certain cryptocurrency. Interestingly, at the time of writing this article, SHIB’s market cap stands at USD $40 million, whereas DOGE is USD $37 million.

Almost 70.52 percent of SHIB’s circulation is controlled by eight whale accounts, of which, one whale holds 41.03 percent. This means all of these whales have made at least 800 percent gains on their investments, during the last week.

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“Excluding the burning address and exchanges, looks like there are some other big winners (whales) as well,” crypto research firm Into the Block, tweeted. Meanwhile, a data released from Coincarp, a crypto enthusiast and beginner resource directory, revealed that out of 838,305 unique addresses (holders), 20 holders command 75.95 percent of the supply. This means 36 percent of wallet addresses hold 80 percent of Shiba’s circulating supply.

“Even if the whale investor choose to burn even 5 billion worth of SHIB today, it will bring down the circulating supply by roughly 17 percent leading to a price surge. When it comes to Shiba, ‘holding’ can be rewarding,” Sharat Chandra, an emerging tech evangelist and a crypto expert told indianexpress.com.

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