ETH whales intervene amid a SHIB price pullback but are whales buying?

• ETH whales rescue SHIB from the grasp of the bears.
• Shiba Inu might be headed for another limbo if the market does not make a clear move.

Shiba Inu has reportedly regained the top spot as the most traded token by the top ETH whales. We have seen SHIB secure the same spot multiple times since the start of January. However, this time it is different, and here’s why.

Read Shiba Inu’s price prediction 2023-2024

SHIB is currently going through a phase of increased sell pressure as is the case with many other top coins and tokens. But according to a recent WhaleStats alert, it managed to become the most traded token by the top ETH whales in the last 24 hours. Whale activity often underscores directional movement, so what does that mean for SHIB?

📰 JUST IN: $SHIB @Shibtoken flipped $NMR for MOST TRADED token among top 100 #ETH whales

Check the top 100 whales here: https://t.co/N5qqsCAH8j

(and hodl $BBW to see data for the top 5000!)#SHIB #NMR #whalestats #babywhale #BBW pic.twitter.com/WnD70M3mVj

— WhaleStats (tracking crypto whales) (@WhaleStats) January 25, 2023

Perhaps a price analysis will provide a better understanding of what is currently going on with SHIB. Its bears managed to pull off a retracement by as much as 15% from its current monthly high to its press-time 24-hour low. Rather than more downside, we have seen some bullish relief in the last few hours.

Source: TradingView

This bullish relief coincides with the whale activity observed by WhaleStats. It suggests that ETH whales have been contributing to buying pressure. In other words, those whales may have prevented further downward momentum.

Where is Shiba Inu headed next?

The slight upside might turn out to be a short-lived outcome if the bears regain control. Alternatively, we may witness a further upside if the market sides with the bulls. SHIB has been losing velocity for the last two days which suggests that the bears have low momentum. This has favored the bulls in the last 24 hours.

Source: Santiment

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On the other hand, Shiba Inu supply held by top addresses dropped substantially since the second week of January. This means large whales took out some profits, and this is why the upside was curbed.

The same metric does not indicate any recovery or re-accumulation yet, hence there might not be enough liquidity to support a strong bullish comeback.

Things do not look exciting on the retail side either. Daily active addresses are within the normal range, hence no sudden changes are likely to influence demand.

Source: Santiment

SHIB’s mean coin age indicates that there have been zones of accumulation (likely from whales) that have shielded against more losses. However, it is now in another cycle of downside or at least it has been for the last two days, confirming that there is some profit-taking. However, the same is expected to pivot if strong accumulation is observed.