As the crypto markets flip bullish again, Ethereum whale holdings show us which three altcoins they scooped up while prices were down.
Covered:
- FTX Token (FTT)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Polygon (MATIC)
You might be at a loss for which tokens to invest in given the absurd amount of crypto tokens on the market. And while retail by no means should copy the strategies of institutions or Ethereum whales, sometimes the big money can give great insight into what tokens are looking like safe bets. Simply put, rich people have more insider information than us retail traders, so looking into their bags can clue us into what whales might be seeing. Let’s take a look at the top three holdings of whales holding more than 100 ETH in their bags to see which tokens’ futures look bright to them.
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FTX Token (FTT)
The biggest token position by dollar value held by Ethereum whales goes to FTX exchange’s native token FTT. It seems that the whales’ accumulation over the past few weeks is paying off, as FTT breached the illustrious $50 mark this morning.
FTT over $50 we back in bizniz boys pic.twitter.com/pPWcpZtE4Z
TrendingTerra To Launch on THORchain Within Days— 찌 G 跻 じ ( 𝙃𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞, 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙥𝙖𝙞 ) (@DegenSpartan) March 25, 2022
If there’s anything I’ve learned since getting into the crypto space, it’s to not fade prominent leaders with strong conviction. With a leader like Sam Bankman-Fried and the countless moves being made by FTX in the mainstream markets, I wouldn’t overlook FTT in the coming months. Assuming the markets go full bull again in 2022, exchanges like FTX and others are sure to heat up as new waves of users arrive to adopt crypto.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Interestingly enough, one of the most polarizing altcoins in the space, the infamous Shiba Inu (SHIB), looks to be the second-largest bag among Ethereum whales.
Let’s not forget that despite its meme status, SHIB is one of the few “meme coins” to break the mold and implement new useful DeFi functionality to its token. Oh, and it’s being adopted by mainstream companies like AMC to be used as payment. Where could this all be leading?
This might rev up the Cryptocurrency fans amongst you. AMC IT says that BitPay will be live for AMC online payments on our web site by March 19, and live on our mobile apps by April 16. Possibly a few days earlier. BitPay, and therefore soon AMC, accepts Doge Coin and Shiba Inu. pic.twitter.com/M8lM3Rz2vY
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) February 28, 2022
To be clear, however, as fun as meme coins are, SHIB has created far more losers than winners in its history, so we can’t rule out that Ethereum whales could just be bag holding their SHIB in hopes of another meme-driven mania phase.
To those offended, I’m not saying SHIB couldn’t be the future of finance, but it’s a tall order to justify holding SHIB for longer than much more proven tokens in the space. But there’s nothing wrong with a little fun in the markets, right?
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Polygon (MATIC)
The third and final coin getting swallowed up by whales appears to be Polygon (MATIC), Ethereum’s leading layer-2 (L2) scaling solution. I’m sure the whales are happy to see that since Bitcoin’s most recent run-up to $45,000, Ethereum has been showing a lot of strength against its competition, which historically is a good sign for bull markets following a significant downtrend.
However, as Ethereum’s strength grows, so do its gas fees. When the network gets busier, the fees tend to shoot up with it. Here’s a look from Etherscan at how the average price for gas fees has risen over the years for Ethereum, as provided by the data analytics firm Messari.
According to Etherscan, the average gas costs jumped from 10 gwei in March 2020 to 60 gwei two years later – without accounting for stretches in 2021 when gas consistently hovered around 150 or even 200 gwei, highlighting the need for improved infrastructure.
So far, Polygon (MATIC) has fit the bill for that much-needed infrastructure improvement, and until the launch of Ethereum’s proof-of-stake upgrade, expect Polygon and other scaling solutions to thrive off of ETH’s incompetence.