Emily Walker
Recent blockchain data reveals that the largest Ethereum holders, known as mega whales, are increasing their dominance over the total supply of ETH.
Dominance of Ethereum Mega Whales Exceeds 57% of Total Supply
According to a recent report from the analytics company Santiment, an analysis of ETH’s distribution among different user groups shows significant trends.
The focus of this analysis is on the “Supply Distribution” metric, which indicates what percentage of the circulating Ethereum supply is held by various wallet categories.
Users’ addresses are segmented based on the number of ETH they possess. For example, one category includes wallets holding between 1 and 10 ETH.
For this discussion, three primary categories are highlighted: wallets with 0 to 100 ETH, 100 to 100,000 ETH, and those with over 100,000 ETH. The first group mainly contains small retail investors.
These investors generally don’t hold significant amounts of ETH on their own, making their market influence limited. In the second category, wallets holding between 100 and 100,000 ETH are larger, especially towards the higher end.
This range encompasses two critical groups: sharks and whales, with whales being the more influential players in the market.
Lastly, the largest wallets, known as mega whales, hold over 100,000 ETH, an amount valued at nearly $400 million at current prices, indicating their massive scale in the market.
The analytics firm has provided a chart detailing the trend in Supply Distribution across these Ethereum wallet categories over the past decade:
The graph illustrates that the percentage of ETH held by mega whales has increased recently, while smaller wallet categories have diminished in significance, particularly the sharks and whales.
Currently, just 104 mega whales control 57.35% of the total ETH supply, marking an unprecedented level of dominance. Conversely, shark and whale holdings have dropped to an all-time low of 33.46%.
Generally, this concentration of supply can be concerning for any cryptocurrency. It’s especially relevant for Ethereum, which operates under a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. If a single entity or coalition holds 51% of the supply, they could potentially control the network.
However, it is important to note that many of these mega whale wallets may belong to staking pools or platforms rather than individual investors, as they consolidate coins on behalf of numerous investors.
Current ETH Price
Ethereum has experienced a decline in value recently, currently priced at $3,930.