Onchain data revealed that an unknown big investor is holding more than 10% of the Shiba Inu token supply, raising newfound concerns around the distribution of the world’s second-largest memecoin.
A mysterious Shiba Inu (SHIB) whale owns over 10% of the token’s total supply across 150 addresses.
Despite the holdings being worth over $5 billion at their peak valuation, the whale has continued to hold his SHIB coins since 2020, according to a Nov. 19 X post by blockchain data firm Bubblemaps, which said:
“Between August and October 2020, a new player entered the scene: 0x1406 purchased 103T $SHIB (10% of the supply) for just 38 ETH. At the time, 38 ETH was worth $10k. Today, 103T $SHIB is worth over $2.5 billion.”
Shiba Inu whale. Source: Bubblemaps
Since October 2020, the investor has made a more than 250,000-fold return on an initial investment of $10,000, worth over $2.5 billion today in what is “possibly the greatest trade in history,” according to Bubblemaps.
Whales with large holdings can significantly impact a cryptocurrency’s price action. The whale could create significant downward pressure on the SHIB token if he decided to sell a significant portion of his holdings on the open market.
Related: Savvy memecoin trader makes $988K in 3 hours despite rug pull
Shiba Inu may be this bull cycle’s sleeping giant
Despite securing an over 250,000-fold return on investment, the investor hasn’t opted to sell any of the SHIB holdings — perhaps displaying confidence in the memecoin’s future potential.
Shiba Inu is currently up over 134% year-to-date and over 27% during the past month, Cointelegraph data shows.
SHIB/USD, 1-year chart. Source: Cointelegraph
While the token has been underperforming some of the other top memecoins, Shiba Inu could be this bull cycle’s sleeping giant, according to market analysis.
The first major signal for a SHIB price rally comes from the ongoing formation of a cup-and-handle setup. This bullish chart pattern typically resolves in a breakout, with the upside target measured by adding the pattern’s maximum height to the breakout point.
SHIB/USD, 4-hour chart, cup-and-handle pattern. Source: dhelSHIB
Related: Bitcoin price could fast-track to $100K high in November — Analysts
SHIB to DOGE capital rotation incoming?
Shiba Inu’s price could also be boosted as capital rotates from its main dog-themed rival, Dogecoin (DOGE).
Shiba Inu has underperformed Dogecoin primarily because of Elon Musk’s relentless promotion of the Department of Government Efficiency, his brainchild government agency to reduce excessive governmental spending, which, interestingly, has the same initials as the Dogecoin ticker, DOGE.
A capital rotation could occur, considering the SHIB token is extremely oversold against the DOGE token.
SHIB/DOGE, 1-day chart, RSI. Source: TradingView
Shiba Inu’s relative strength index (RSI) stands at 14.7 against Dogecoin’s, suggesting that SHIB’s price is oversold and that selling pressure compared to DOGE is becoming low, TradingView data shows.
The RSI is a popular momentum indicator used to measure whether an asset is oversold or overbought based on the magnitude of recent price changes.
Magazine: Legal issues surround the FBI’s creation of fake crypto tokens