Just 10 Holders Control 61.3% Of Shiba Inu Supply: How This Compares With Other Altcoins

On-chain data shows Shiba Inu has a high concentration of supply on its largest holders. Here’s how Ethereum and other altcoins compare.

In a new post on X, the on-chain analytics firm Santiment has talked about how the total holdings of the ten largest whales compares for four altcoins: Ethereum (ETH), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Chainlink (LINK), and Toncoin (TON).

Below is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows the trend in this metric for these assets over the last few months.

As displayed in the graph, Shiba Inu has the metric at the highest level right now, with around 61.3% of the memecoin’s supply in the control of the ten largest investors on the network.

Ethereum follows up SHIB in second with the indicator currently sitting at 46.1%. While the top 10 whales don’t quite control the majority of the supply for ETH, they are still quite close to do so.

Toncoin and Chainlink, however, have the metric at 33.1% and 32.8%, respectively, which suggests the supplies of the two are more evenly distributed throughout the network.

In general, a high amount of supply centralization on a few hands isn’t constructive for any cryptocurrency. “If these wallets decide to sell, it can cause sharp price drops, creating greater risks for smaller investors,” notes Santiment.

That said, the analytics firm also says:

However, if these large holders keep holding or accumulating, it generally signals confidence in the project and can actually reward traders who collectively hold less power, and rely more heavily on the behavior of a few large key stakeholders. Regardless, it’s important to remember this level of concentration can make a coin more volatile, as a few players have the power to influence price movements.

From the chart, it’s apparent that Shiba Inu, Ethereum, and Chainlink have all seen the indicator move sideways during the last few months, which means that their largest whales have been holding tight onto their coins. This also implies, though, that these holders haven’t been buying more, either.

Toncoin stands out as the altcoin that has seen the top 10 whales increase their supply share during the period. This active accumulation can naturally be a bullish sign for the asset.

Out of these cryptocurrencies, Shiba Inu could be the one most likely to suffer from destabilization, as it’s only in the hands of just ten investors to make market moves that involve the majority of the supply. Toncoin and Chainlink would be the on the other end of the spectrum, with their supply distribution being more healthy.

At the time of writing, Shiba Inu is trading around $0.0000152, down almost 22% over the last week.