Santiment, the on-chain analytics platform has reported that the top 10 Ethereum whale holders own just 5.83 million ETH in trading exchanges. On the other hand, the whale owns 24.31 million ETH in non-exchange addresses. Santiment has reported that the Ethereum whale holders are moving their coins from exchanges to non-exchange wallet addresses.
In January alone, a total of 302,092 ETH were moved by whales from exchanges to non-exchange wallet addresses, reported UToday. Ethereum saw its biggest drop last month since March 2020 as it plummeted below the $2,100 mark. The dip made whales take entry position again and increased their ETH holdings.
In addition, the new ETH purchases were mostly transacted in non-exchanges. Therefore, the continued flow to cold wallets signals long-term price volatility. Whales are moving their ETH to non-exchanges to hold them for a lengthy period.
The recent spate of hacks is what could be the driving force for whales to move their holdings out of exchanges. Non-exchanges are hard to hack and provide security to their investments. Apart from whales, even common investors are now selecting non-exchanges over trading platforms. Non-exchanges also act as a shield from government intervention as they believe decentralization is good for their finances.
Top Whales Hold Over 30 Million Ethereum
According to Santiment, just the top 20 Ethereum whales hold a staggering 30 million ETH. This includes both exchanges and non-exchanges. Also, the top 10 non-exchange addresses at present hold 24.31 million ETH. On the other hand, the top 10 exchange addresses only hold about 5.83 million ETH.
Also, since the market crash in January, whales are on a shopping spree by adding bag loads of Ethereum and Bitcoin to their portfolio. One particular Bitcoin whale kept on buying BTC’s while the average investor sold his/her holdings in fear of a further slump. Whales and their plush disposable income makes ‘buying the dips’ a viable option.
The year 2022 started on a backfoot as it erased all profits of 2021 during January’s crash. Top cryptos are now close to -40 to -50% below their all-time highs. Quick market recovery is unlikely as BTC is still moving towards the red.
At press time, Ethereum was trading at $2,606 and is down -6.90% in the 24-hours day trade.