For a while now, Ethereum whales have been moving their coins around. This has been a direct result of the bear market that has caused investors to lose a significant amount of their portfolios. Even now, the crypto market is still being ravaged by declining prices. The result of this has been investors seeking refuge in tokens that do not see a lot of volatility, and Ethereum whales have not been left out of this flight to safety.
Stablecoins Gain Favor
Over the last 24 hours, the trade activity of the top Ethereum whales has shown a big shift towards stablecoins. These whales, who have usually been known to trade across a number of digital assets regardless of their volatility, are taking less risk during this time.
The USDT stablecoin has been the number 1 token by trade volume for these top Ethereum whales. The average volume transacted by the whales came out to $267,328, even higher than the volume for ETH, which was the second-highest by trading volume. USDC featured in third place on this list, with an average amount of $89,180 over this time.
In the same vein, the stablecoins were at the top of the most purchased tokens over this time. USDT naturally led the list, while USDC was in second place. Interestedly, ETH did not take 3rd place as expected because Ethereum whales bought more SRM than ETH over this time period.
ETH price settles above $1,300 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
On the topic of sales, the whales continued the trend of moving toward stablecoins. ETH was the most sold token over the last 24 hours, most of which had gone to converting ETH holdings into the more stable USDT and USDC.
Ethereum Whales Want Stability
Over the course of 2022, Ethereum whales have moved towards more stable options. While ETH continues to top their holdings, the change in their token holdings shows that these whales are getting ready to weather another bear storm.
The start of the year had seen tokens such as Shiba Inu and FTX Token topping the holdings of these large investors. However, the tide has shifted so much in this regard that the largest token holdings of these whales are now in stablecoins.
Presently, USDC is the largest token holder of the top 100 Ethereum whales at $653.3 million (26.09%). It is then followed by USDT with a cumulative holding value of $575.14 million (22.96%). Shiba Inu still features highly on this list but is a long way from being the largest token held by these large investors.
Given that analysts continue to warn investors that the bottom of the crypto bear market is not in, it is no surprise that these investors are looking for safety. If the bottom happens to be lower than already recorded cycle lows, then there is more pain to come.
Featured image from CryptoSlate, chart from TradingView.com
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