A recent report by Chainalysis inc suggests that the total circulating supply of Ether is not evenly distributed, where 376 whales are in control of the 30% of the circulation supply. On the other hand, 20% of the total Bitcoin circulating supply is held by 450 people which is quite high too, given the significant difference in market cap of Ethereum and Bitcoin.
However, the same report suggests that Ethereum whales do not have a great impact on the market since a majority of them are only holding their assets rather than using it to manipulate the market. Thus, the question arrives on why these whales are in the accumulation mode rather than more buying and selling?
As of now, Ethereum is trading at $264 which is double the price it was at 6 months ago. Ethereum is quite close to achieving its all-time high price as well, and looking at the bullish sentiment in the market, it might happen soon. So, are these whales waiting for the prices to go further up before they start the pump&dump game?
Looking at the current behavior of the whales who have hoarded billions of dollars worth of Ether, it seems they are quite optimistic about Ether’s future as the token has already made significant gains throughout 2019.
The Decentralization Debate Raises on
Although the current behavior of whales does not pose a threat of market manipulation, it surely brings the decentralization aspects of cryptocurrencies into the question. While the main aim behind the invention of cryptocurrencies was to provide equal opportunities to everyone, the dominance of whales in the market put the decentralization aspect into hot waters.
Any absurd price trigger in the market be it upward or downward are a direct result of whales manipulation. We have witnessed the same scenario on a number of occasions, be it the first significant surge of 2019 which started in April or the many other cases in the past. The accumulation by whales sure put a threat to the essence of decentralization.
Read more at: https://www.btcwires.com/c-buzz/are-ethereum-whales-putting-decentralization-at-stake/
