The ownership distribution of Shiba Inu (SHIB), a widely held cryptocurrency, is raising concerns about concentration. Despite having over 1.36 million holders, a closer examination of the top holders reveals that the top five, excluding exchanges and the burn wallet, control approximately 7% of the total supply. While this percentage may seem relatively low compared to other cryptocurrencies, it still raises questions about decentralization and potential market influence.
Let’s take a closer look at the top SHIB holders. The largest individual holder, identified by the address with initials 0xf3B007, possesses around 4.26% of SHIB’s supply, which is valued at approximately $426 million. Although the owner remains anonymous, the wallet is associated with Crypto.com and holds a significant amount of Cronos Coin.
In the second position is a contract address with the initials 0x4221, which controls about 1.36% of SHIB’s total supply, equivalent to $136 million. The activity of this contract address suggests that it may be controlled by an on-chain trader who occasionally engages in SHIB transfers.
Completing the top five are three addresses, each holding 1% of SHIB’s supply. The address with the initials 0xF28d2 significantly increased its holdings in November 2021, shortly after SHIB reached its all-time high. The fourth largest individual SHIB holder, 0x99c1, also acquired its holdings in November 2021, now valued at $108 million. It’s worth noting that if these holdings were acquired at the peak of SHIB’s price, the owner may face substantial losses.
The fifth address, with initials 0x3198, acquired 1% of Shiba Inu’s maximum supply in November 2021 and has since maintained its holdings.
Apart from individual holders, the “Null” wallet, functioning as a dead wallet for burned and removed SHIB tokens, holds a significant portion of the total supply. This wallet holds a whopping 41% of the total SHIB supply, valued at $3.95 billion. Its role in removing tokens from circulation has contributed to the scarcity of SHIB.
Major exchanges like Binance and Robinhood also hold significant amounts of SHIB tokens. Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, owns several wallets containing trillions of SHIB tokens, amounting to $765 million. Robinhood, another popular exchange, holds the fifth-largest position with 27 trillion SHIB tokens valued at $258 million. Additionally, OKX ranks as the seventh-largest SHIB holder, possessing 10.7 trillion SHIB worth $107 million. Other exchanges such as Crypto.com, KuCoin, and Kraken also hold significant amounts of SHIB, highlighting the influence of exchanges on SHIB’s distribution.
Recent developments and advancements have contributed to the price increase of Shiba Inu. The burning mechanism of SHIB has been active, with over 17 billion tokens burned recently. On December 27, the burn rate spiked by approximately 2,500%, destroying more than 136 million SHIB tokens. These actions aim to reduce the circulating supply of SHIB, thereby increasing its potential scarcity and value over time.
As of now, SHIB is trading at $0.00001065, experiencing a 24-hour decrease of 0.60%. Notably, the token has maintained a price above $0.000010 for ten consecutive days, marking its longest period above this price level in several weeks.
