The altcoin industry has been solving the decentralization aspect of the blockchain trilemma for the past years. With the scalability and security aspects having been solved through layer one and layer two chains, the distribution of altcoins to achieve higher decentralization has been a work in progress in most projects.
The use of play-to-airdrops (P2A) has gained significant momentum in the GamiFi sector. However, the control of altcoin projects by whale investors remains evident in most tokens.
Shiba Inu Leads in Whale’s Control
According to on-chain data analysis by Santiment, Shiba Inu (SHIB), the leading memecoin on the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem, has the highest level of whale control in the top altcoins. Specifically, 61.3 percent of the total circulating supply holdings is held by the top 10 largest wallets.
With over 41 percent of SHIB’a total supply already burnt, 61.3 percent of the remaining 59 percent is a big proportion in the hands of whale investors. According to Santiment, the huge control of SHIB by whale investors is a double-edged sword that every retail trader should closely monitor.
On one hand, the huge control of SHIB by whale investors instills confidence in the dog-themed memecoin. On the other hand, a potential selloff by the whales could be catastrophic for the memecoin.
Other Altcoins
📊 Here are the percentage of total supply holdings of the top 10 largest wallets for four of the largest altcoin market caps in crypto:
😟 Shiba Inu $SHIB: 61.3% of Supply
😐 Ethereum $ETH: 46.1% of Supply
😎 Chainlink $LINK: 33.1% of Supply
😎 Toncoin $TON: 32.8% of Supply… pic.twitter.com/RY5uUcbKI8— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 7, 2025
According to Santiment, 46 percent of Ethereum (ETH) is held by the top ten largest wallets, which also poses a considerable threat. Meanwhile, Chainlink (LINK) and Toncoin (TON) have a more evenly spread of the total supply with whale investors of about 33.1 percent and 32.8 percent respectively.
