Shiba Inu [SHIB] whales go sulking; could retail traders drive the prices up

Shiba Inu is criticized by a large part of market participants precisely because of its ‘meme-coin’ nature and also because whales tend to dominate the SHIB market more often. 

The dominance of whales makes SHIB more susceptible to dumps. It also puts regular investors at risk who jumped onto the bandwagon due to FOMO (fear of missing out). However, over the last couple of weeks, tides have shifted, leaving the control in the hands of traders instead of whales.

Shiba Inu took a break?

Curiously, 9 May was the worst day of the year for the crypto market as, within 24 hours, over $200 billion or about 14% of the entire crypto market cap was wiped out. Although at the moment, about $84 billion has been recovered.

Total Crypto market cap | Source: TradingView – AMBCrypto

However, it doesn’t take away from the fact that 9 May left a lot of people in the crypto market devastated, including Shiba Inu holders.

While this particular group of investors is used to excessive volatility, it was still unexpected for them to witness a 24.16% decline in a single day. This was the highest single-day dip noted by SHIB since its 1036% rally in October. 

Shiba Inu price action | Source: TradingView – AMBCrypto

These last 24 hours are also the first time in 2022 that SHIB transactions in losses observed a double-digit trillion figure. Triggered by the crash, investors moved their holdings which resulted in over 10 trillion SHIB worth about $167 million, changing hands in losses.

Shiba Inu transactions in loss | Source: Santiment – AMBCrypto

Even at the time of writing, over 86 million SHIB holders were out of profit. Now, recovery from here on could be sustainable provided whales keep their movements slow and low. Averaging $21.2 million, whale transactions have reduced significantly.

Shiba Inu whale transactions | Source: Intotheblock – AMBCrypto

This has given SHIB a chance to invite some serious investors who brought the cohort of long-term holders (LTH) to life. Presently these LTHs represent 4.73% of all holders, which makes SHIB a slightly more considerable asset than it was before.

Shiba Inu investor distribution | Source: Intotheblock – AMBCrypto