 
 
Concerns have emerged over Shiba Inu’s (SHIB) token distribution after analysts revealed that several wallets hold a significant portion of its supply.
On Friday, crypto analytics firm Santiment reported that the top 10 SHIB wallets collectively own 61.3% of the total supply. By comparison, Ethereum’s top 10 wallets hold 46.1% of its supply, while Chainlink and Toncoin have even lower concentrations at 33.1% and 32.8%, respectively.
Notably, as per the firm, such a high concentration for SHIB raises fears of price manipulation and volatility.
“When the top 10 largest wallets hold a big portion of a cryptocurrency’s total supply, like Shiba Inu at 61%, it means a small number of holders have significant control over the market. If these wallets decide to sell, it can cause sharp price drops, creating greater risks for smaller investors.” The firm tweeted.
On the other hand, cryptocurrencies with more evenly distributed ownership are considered more stable, as they are less susceptible to market manipulation by a few large players.
 
However, a closer look at the nature of these wallets reveals that the situation may not be as concerning as initially feared. While the numbers suggest that a small number of entities control SHIB’s supply, the firm noted that many of these top wallets do not belong to individual investors or whales but are controlled by exchanges and the SHIB burn wallet.
Notably, the official burn wallet is the largest SHIB wallet, which holds an astounding 41% of the total supply. These tokens have been permanently removed from circulation, meaning they cannot be sold or reintroduced to the market. This significantly reduces concerns about potential sell-offs from this particular address.
The second-largest wallet, containing 44.72 trillion SHIB, belongs to the South Korean exchange Upbit. Similarly, Binance holds 44.19 trillion SHIB as the third-largest wallet, while Robinhood controls the fourth-largest with 39.27 trillion SHIB.
Other major exchanges like Crypto.com, OKX, and BitGo also hold substantial amounts. Since these exchanges hold SHIB on behalf of millions of retail investors rather than for personal investment, the likelihood of coordinated price manipulation is much lower than initially perceived.
It’s also important to note that such entities, particularly Robinhood, have continued accumulating SHIB, signaling a growing interest in the meme coin. According to Santiment, such purchases indicate confidence in the meme coins future.
“If these large holders continue to hold or accumulate, it generally signals confidence in the project and can actually reward traders who collectively hold less power and rely more heavily on the behavior of a few large key stakeholders.” Santiment wrote.
SHIB traded at $0.00001569 at press time, reflecting a 1.10% surge in the past 24 hours.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/shiba-inu-analysts-raise-alarm-as-10-wallets-hold-61-of-shib-supply-but-theres-a-catch/