Large holders of Ethereum, also called Ethereum whales, have been on an 
accumulation trend for a while now, with on-chain data revealing a fascinating 
increase in their collective holdings. Particularly, data from blockchain 
analytics firm IntoTheBlock shows that Ethereum whales now hold about 43% of 
the total circulating supply of ETH. The imbalance in ETH holdings raises 
important questions about its implications for Ethereum&#8217;s price and market 
dynamics moving forward. Whale Accumulation Surges By Over 90% Since Early 
2023 According to IntoTheBlock, the total concentration of ETH in whale 
addresses is currently at 61.09 ETH, which represents about 43% of the total 
supply. This marks a significant shift from early 2023, when whales held just 
22% of Ethereum&#8217;s circulating supply. IntoTheBlock classifies whale addresses 
as those holding more than 1% of the total circulating supply of ETH. Related 
Reading: Dogecoin Bulls Eye $3 As Whales Scoop 200 Million DOGE In The Last 2 
Days The nearly twofold increase in Ethereum whale holdings within just a year 
is a noteworthy development. Naturally, such a concentration of a large supply 
of cryptocurrency into a few wallets would spell doom for the asset, as it 
would mean a few players would be able to manipulate price dynamics as they 
wish. However, Ethereum’s case deviates from this narrative due to the unique 
nature of its ecosystem and recent structural shifts within the network since 
2022. The sharp rise in whale concentration can be attributed to two major 
factors: the Ethereum merge and the growing appeal of ETH staking to earn 
rewards. The Ethereum merge, which took place in 2022, transitioned the 
blockchain from a proof-of-work (PoW) system to a proof-of-stake (PoS) 
mechanism. As such, in-depth data from IntoTheBlock, which shows the 61.09 
million ETH concentrated in only three whale addresses, makes much sense. What 
this means is that these ETH are mostly those locked in the proof-of-stake 
staking algorithm used by block validators on the Ethereum network. By locking 
up their Ethereum, ETH miners and large holders have not only reduced the 
circulating supply but also contribute to price appreciation by reducing the 
amount of Ethereum available for trading. Ethereum Holder Dynamics &#8211; 
Investors And Retailers The increase in ETH among whale addresses has meant 
less ETH is available for investors and retail owners. IntoTheBlock classifies 
investors as addresses holding between 0.1% and 1% of the total circulating 
supply, while retail are those with less than 0.1% of the total circulating 
supply. At the time of writing, there are 42 investor addresses and they 
collectively own 15.2 million ETH, which translates to 10.77% of the total 
circulating supply. Keeping in mind that the three whale addresses do not do 
much with price dynamics, investor addresses holding significant but more 
liquid portions of ETH have a greater capacity to affect market movements. Any 
substantial selloff from these investor addresses could trigger a sharp 
decline in Ethereum’s price. Related Reading: Bitcoin Reserve In The US: 65% 
Chance It Happens In 2025 On the other hand, retailers, which constitute over 
99% of ETH addresses, are left with 46% of the total circulating supply. At 
the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $3,225 and is down by 2% in the 
past 24 hours. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

Ethereum Whales Control 43% Of Supply – What This Means For Retail Traders

Defai is a convergence of artificial intelligence and decentralized finance, 
poised to simplify on-chain tasks and unlock new opportunities. This piece is 
a guest post by Blocmates. Blocmates is an invaluable crypto news and 
educational resource that offers clarity in the often complicated and jargon- 
filled crypto space. In this timely article, Blocmate&#8217;s Gaz explains this […]

What Is Defai? A Beginner’s Guide

Most people who read about cryptocurrencies know that Bitcoin, due to its 
characteristics, is often referred to as ‘digital gold.’ A new study reveals 
that more and more people in the U.S. prefer Bitcoin to gold. The GameFi 
platform ChainPlay…

Survey reveals over 50% of Americans sell gold or stocks to buy Bitcoin. Is this a good idea?

The following is a guest post by Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of Komodo Blockchain. 
The 14th Amendment and the Debt Limit The debt limit is the amount of money 
the United States government can borrow to pay its existing legal obligations. 
These include Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, 
interest on the national debt, tax […]
The post A US debt default would be unconstitutional—Bitcoin is the only way 
out appeared first on CryptoSlate.

A US debt default would be unconstitutional—Bitcoin is the only way out

A popular cryptocurrency exchange platform foresees an outsized market rally 
for altcoins in the upcoming weeks after Donald Trump assumes the US 
presidency on January 20. A Coinbase analysis urged crypto traders to start 
positioning themselves in the altcoin space as a potential huge rally 
concerning altcoins is on the horizon. Related Reading: Bitcoin Reserve In The 
US: 65% Chance It Happens In 2025 Coinbase Reports Rise Of Altcoins Coinbase 
crypto exchange suggested that the upcoming massive market rally for altcoins 
could be on the way and might happen in the succeeding weeks after Trump 
returns to the White House. The crypto exchange released its latest weekly 
market commentary which provided its insights on Trump’s upcoming inauguration 
and its impact on the cryptocurrency landscape, saying that although the 
incoming American president is pro-crypto, it might take a while before “all 
planned crypto-related policies on the agenda” will be fully implemented. 
However, Coinbase analysts noted that after Trump’s inauguration on January 
20, they are expecting a surge in altcoins since, they believe, the digital 
asset space is preparing for a massive altcoin rally. The crypto exchange’s 
report stated that crypto traders might be strategically positioning 
themselves to fuel another growth spurt for altcoins under the Trump 
administration. According to Coinbase, the latest surge in altcoins is driven 
by a slight drop in the dominance of Bitcoin. “The drop in BTC dominance from 
58.5% to its support level of 57.3% during the inflation print relief rally on 
January 15 suggests to us that traders may be positioning for an outsized 
altcoin market rally on the back of positive catalysts for risk assets and 
crypto,” Coinbase explained in the report. BTC’s Fading Dominance A crypto 
analyst observed that the dominance of the world’s most popular 
cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, could be slightly dipping, a circumstance that 
allowed the latest altcoin pump. “Importantly for the long tail, $BTC 
dominance has been slowly fading since late November ’24 – fireworks if that 
continues,” VC firm Placeholder partner and former ARK Invest crypto lead 
Chris Burniske said. Importantly for the long tail, $BTC dominance has been 
slowly fading since late November &#8217;24 &#8211; fireworks if that continues. 
pic.twitter.com/PyBWTwT8os — Chris Burniske (@cburniske) January 17, 2025 In 
its insight report, Coinbase provided a possible price scenario for Bitcoin 
through the Deribit options contracts. “The max paint point for Deribit BTC 
options expiring on January 31 and February 28, 2025 is $94K and $98K 
respectively. However, this drops to $80K for the March 28 expiry. While not a 
pure prediction of future price action, the max paint point suggests possible 
biases in market positioning by market makers and options sellers who may be 
hedging their liabilities,” the crypto exchange analysts said in the weekly 
commentary. Related Reading: Dogecoin Bulls Eye $3 As Whales Scoop 200 Million 
DOGE In The Last 2 Days Stablecoin Inflows A Cue Crypto analysts observed that 
stablecoins posted strong inflows, which Coinbase analysts David Duong and 
David Han suggested as an indicator that a bullish market could happen to 
altcoin. The analysts added that a big chunk of stablecoins&#8217; strong capital 
inflows went to altcoins while Bitcoin and Ethereum recorded outflows. 
“Stablecoin supply – perhaps the most clear proxy for capital flows to these 
long tail assets in our view – increased by $1.3B last week, a continuation of 
trends we’ve observed over the past two months,” the Coinbase report said. 
Coinbase also noted that BTC had a net outflow of $457 million while ETH’s net 
outflow was at $206 million. Featured image from Pexels, chart from 
TradingView

Cryptocurrency price in USD