On-chain data shows that Ethereum wallets holding over 1,000 ETH have reduced their holdings over the last eleven weeks, losing 1.5% of their ETH supply.
Ethereum whales distributed tokens equivalent to 1.5% of the supply
As supply chain analytics firm Santiment explained in its X report postEthereum addresses with over 1,000 ETH have been participating in net sales since Christmas. A significant indicator here is “Supply Distribution”, which tells us the percentage of the total supply of ETH in circulation that a given group of wallets holds.
Addresses are placed into these cohorts based on the number of tokens they carry in their balance. For example, coin group 1 to 10 includes all investors holding 1 to 10 ETH.
Here is an Ethereum supply distribution chart provided by Santiment that shows the indicator trend for three portfolio ranges: 0 to 1 coins, 1 to 1000 coins, and over 1000 coins.
As shown in the chart above, the smallest Ethereum investors, those holding less than 1 ETH retail, have seen their total supply escalate since December. This group currently holds over 2.3% of the cryptocurrency’s supply, which is the highest level ever.
Mid-range wallets from 1 to 1,000 ETH saw a similar trajectory during this period, with their supply exceeding 23% for the first time since July. The growth of these addresses could be based on staking.
While smaller investors accumulated their investments, the same was not true for the top end of the market: those with over 1,000 ETH. This ranges from cohorts such as sharks and whales, which are considered cryptocurrency keyholders due to the significant size of their holdings.
Over the last eleven weeks, these gigantic entities have distributed 1.5% of the total ETH supply. As a result of this sell-off, their supply dropped below 75%, the lowest level in seven months.
In addition to this shark and whale selling phase, Ethereum’s price has plummeted and it is possible that this bearish price action can only continue in the near future if distribution is maintained. It now remains to be seen whether the supply distribution of over 1,000 ETH traders will remain in a downtrend in the coming days or if a reversal will emerge.
One digital asset that has seen the opposite behavior with its top wallets is Pepe. As Santiment pointed out in another X postThe top 100 memecoin wallets have participated in significant accumulation over the past four months.
In total, these huge wallets purchased 23.02 trillion PEPE during this period. As the analytics firm explained:
Retail sentiment is currently very bearish towards Pepe coins and memes, but expect high accumulation coins to inevitably experience another breakout once Bitcoin is able to see continued bullish momentum.
ETH price
At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around $1,950, down almost 14% over the past week.
Featured image of Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com
