39% of Ethereum supply is held by whales compared to Bitcoin’s 11%
In the world of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) remain the largest digital assets based on market capitalization and are known to dictate the path of the entire market. However, the distribution of these cryptocurrencies is very different, with Ethereum having a significantly higher percentage of its supply held by whales compared to Bitcoin.
In particular, as of February 26, 2023, around 39% of the total supply of Ethereum is concentrated among large addresses, data by crypto market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock
This is in stark contrast to Bitcoin, where large addresses only have 11% of the total supply.
In fact, contraction of the owners metric aggregates the share of circulating supply held by whale addresses, making up over 1% of the supply and investors or addresses with between 0.1%-1%. The combination of the two calculations corresponds to the total concentration of large owners.
Ethereum’s onchain activity
Ethereum’s large address concentration coincides with the network’s increased development activity. The stake function remains the main highlight of the decentralized financial ecosystem after the historic merger upgrade.
After months of testing, investors are set to start withdrawing their ETH stakes in March after the Shanghai upgrade goes live.
Although the high concentration of Ethereum whales has different implications, it may indicate investors’ future price outlook for the asset. It’s worth noting that as Ethereum undergoes significant development, proponents are still betting that the asset can topple Bitcoin.
At the same time, it can be argued that Ethereum is relatively cheap compared to Bitcoin, which makes it reasonable to collect in large quantities.
Implication of whale addresses
The concentration of crypto-wealth in the hands of a few large owners is a controversial topic in digital asset circles. Some argue that it is a natural outcome of the market, and that wealthy individuals should be allowed to hold large amounts of digital assets.
However, others argue that this concentration of wealth goes against the decentralized ethos of cryptocurrency and could lead to market manipulation.
Regardless of varied opinions on the matter, the fact remains that Ethereum’s supply is significantly more concentrated in the hands of a few large owners compared to Bitcoin. This could have important implications for the future of the Ethereum ecosystem and its price.
At press time, Ethereum was trading at $1,645 with daily gains of over 4%, while Bitcoin is trading at $23,657.
Disclaimer: The content of this page should not be considered investment advice. Investment is speculative. When you invest, your capital is at risk.
