The bear market in 2018 has been gut-wrenching. Many investors lost tons of money due to the dwindling market movement. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) went down 80% from its all-time high. The majority of the other top digital assets suffered from declines of about 90% or greater than that figure. So far digital currency prices have fallen and stayed down for extended periods to the point that many investors who acquired digital assets in early 2017 but also remain profitable are starting to cash out their earnings before the atmosphere changes.
How Large Scale Ethereum Holders Have Grown Their Holdings
Despite this downturn in recent months for digital assets, when it comes to Ethereum (ETH), blockchain data shows that large-scale Ether holders (colloquially called “crypto whales”) who have hodled druing the downturn bought the dip, and significantly grew the size of their tokens. At least this is what one research found. Ethereum (ETH) Price Today – ETH / USD
| Name | Price | 24H % |
|---|---|---|
 | $0.00 | -2.08% |
According a recent research on the cryptocurrency market, there are about 500 actively traded Ether addresses among 1,000 on the market which makes it the largest.
These wallets have managed to accumulate massive sums of Ether tokens during the 2018 fiscal year despite the uneven market. This had made these holders gro their ETH holdings by at least 80% since January this year. This percentage is the highest attained through such a period in the history of Ethereum. By the end of November, these addresses collectively held a total of 20 million ETH, which is equivalent to funds worth $2.2 billion. This sum reportedly constitutes about 20% of the circulating supply of ETH tokens.
Growth of Whale Holdings Attributed to Investors Souring on ICO Tokens
Diar attributes the accumulation in whale holdings to ETH investors souring on ICO tokens. ICO tokens have been one of the worst performers in 2018. In addition to unrelenting pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory bodies across the world, a number of ICO-funded startups haven’t lived up to up to expectations and have failed to deliver.
Even the ICOs that have delivered including Sirin Labs, the creator of the now widely adopted “blockchain smartphone,” often find that their digital tokens continue to trade in the red to their initial exchange listing prices. In the face of this backdrop, traders who initially diversified” their Ether holdings into ERC-20 tokens have started to cut their losses to consolidate back into Ethereum (ETH).
What the Report Says
“The huge growth in active crypto whale Ether holdings could, be as a result of traders who are exiting the trade of assets, most of which have been joined with Ethereum and has plummeted by all accounts since the start of this year.”
However, the growth of whale holdings hasn’t correlated with the expansion in the sum of addresses that can be classified as whales. Since January this year, the total number of active whale holders has declined by 30%, further concentrating ETH supply among smaller addresses. With that said, it is safe to say that ETH supply is less-concentrated compared to the way it was at the start of 2017 when whale addresses held 33 million ETH (which made up one-third of the Ether supply at the time).
