New research is revealing just how concentrated the ownership of wealth is among the leading cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock is releasing its latest findings on the consolidation of crypto accross some of the biggest coins by market cap. The crypto intelligence company says 298 crypto whales control huge amounts of wealth in the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin ecosystems.
Although Bitcoin transactions are traceable, the identities of most addresses remains shrouded in mystery, often owned by early investors and in some cases cryptocurrency exchanges.
As for Bitcoin, IntoTheBlock says just 39 whales hold 11.1% of all of existing BTC. For Ethereum, 154 addresses hold 40% of all ETH, and for Litecoin 128 addresses hold 47% of all LTC.
Meanwhile, over half of the circulating supply of Tether is in the hands of 140 wallets.
Here’s a breakdown of all the coins in the study.
- 39 Bitcoin addresses own 11.1%
- 154 Ethereum addresses own 40%
- 105 Bitcoin Cash addresses own 28%
- 128 Litecoin addresses own 47%
- 104 Bitcoin SV addresses own 25%
- 39 Cardano addresses own 40%
- 140 Tether addresses own 58%
With a $36.3 billion 24-hour trading volume, Tether is currently outpacing Bitcoin’s volume at $29.9 billion. The stablecoin is widely used to hedge against the market’s notoriously wild swings.
On the surface, the accumulation of coins in the hands of the few may seem like bad news. However, there may be a benefit to the long-term health of the crypto industry. In theory, whales can help keep the price of digital coins stable. Unlike retail traders, they rarely dump at the first sign of weakness. In addition, whales can help carve a bear market bottom as they tend to accumulate when prices dip.
