Again, Ethereum’s largest wallets continue to dominate, but this time, far more questions are raised about ETH market centralization and long-term confidence. Ethereum whale dominance now stands at an all-time high.
The ownership of the top 104 Ethereum whale wallets holding more than 100,000 Ether now jointly controls 57 percent of the total supply of Ether. From a blockchain analytics perspective, Santiment, these wallets control nearly $333 billion in Ether, significantly influencing the Ethereum ecosystem.
🐳 There are currently 104 whale wallets holding at least 100K Ethereum. Their combined holdings currently sit at 57.35% of all existing ETH tokens, currently worth ~$333.1B.
Meanwhile, wallets with 100-100K hold their lowest ratio of supply in history, 33.46%. And sub-100 ETH… pic.twitter.com/9qDN3lotQy
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 17, 2024
The fact that whales are storing this amount indicates increasing confidence in Ethereum’s potential to survive in the long term. Generally speaking, the accumulation trend is a bullish signal for a cryptocurrency as big players accumulate a large portion of the supply, Santiment noted.
Ethereum Whales Accumulate Amid Rising DeFi And Staking
Santiment noted that with the caveat “that the #2 market cap is becoming more and more DeFi and staking wallets, a still generally strong long-term signal is when a coin’s largest key stakeholders are continuing to accumulate.”
High confidence among Ethereum (ETH) whales is seen as the cryptocurrency hit its highest level ever regarding coins that massive players hold.
Whale addresses still rule, but the total supply is now 33.5% in the hands of mid-sized holders (1,000 to 100,000 ETH), a rate last seen at the beginning of the year. The share of smaller wallets, holding less than 100 ETH, also fell to 9.19%, the lowest in nearly four years.
Market centralization concerns about such concentration of wealth are raised by critics, saying it may help diminish liquidity or impose greater volatility.
Whales are dominating the space, but user activity has also increased on Ethereum. In December, the daily average of new wallet addresses hit 130,200, the highest in eight months. Ether’s price recovery has coincided with the rise in user activity, too, as the currency reclaimed the $4,000 mark on December 7 for the first time since March.
ETH is now trading at around $4,007, down by 17 percent from its all-time high of $4,891 on November 16, 2021. According to market analysts, Ethereum can surpass its former peak by early 2025 due to broad market trends and expanding adoption.
Ethereum reclaimed its number one spot on Tether (USDT) supply from Tron in November. Ethereum’s USDT supply stood at $60.3 billion Wednesday, taking back market share from August 2022.
The lead held up: on November 23 alone, Tether minted $2 billion ($2,000,000,000) worth of USDT on Ethereum, but only $1 billion ($1,000,000,000) worth on Tron. USDT supply on other blockchains, in the USDT supply rankings, are BNB Chain ($4.58 billion), Arbitrum ($3.09 billion), and Avalanche ($1.31 billion).
Despite being a double-edged sword, whale wallets are dominating Ethereum’s ecosystem. Whale accumulation is solid proof of a platform’s long-term potential, particularly after the hard fork for both a migration and an upgrade, given Ethereum’s success in DeFi, staking, and the circulation of stablecoin, which is all here and felt now.
However, critics warn that this will inflame market volatility and reduce liquidity, making the market more prone to sudden large price swings. When Ethereum’s adoption and value grow along its trajectory, the maneuvers of the top wallets will be constantly tracked for their influence on the entire scene.
