Shiba Inu [SHIB] sees more activity from top ETH whales but…

• Shiba Inu bulls on the edge as bears start pushing back.
• A look at why SHIB holders should brace for an erosion of some of the recent gains.

It is somewhat of a big deal when ETH whales demonstrate an interest in a particular crypto token. They may have a significant impact on price volatility and even price direction. This is currently the case with Shiba Inu (SHIB) but what will be the impact?

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The SHIB token was the most traded token by ETH whales in the last 24 hours. This is according to Whalestats analysis which also revealed that Shiba Inu managed to flip WBTC to secure the top spot. This development combined with the series of observations in the last two or three days may help provide more clarity as far as price movement is concerned.

📰 JUST IN: $SHIB @Shibtoken flipped $WBTC 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 #WBTC #whalestats #babywhale #BBW pic.twitter.com/3Je2fmpwto

— WhaleStats (tracking crypto whales) (@WhaleStats) January 14, 2023

Is SHIB experiencing a surge in sell pressure?

SHIB’s volatility index was on a downward trajectory since the first week of January. It pivoted after 11 January and has been up since then. A look at the mean coin age may help make sense of this outcome. Shiba Inu’s 90-day mean coin age rallied since mid-December, before peaking on 9 January.

Source: Santiment

The drop off after 9 January suggests a resurgence of sell pressure but it was short-lived. The mean coin age metric reverted to an upward trajectory, confirming that SHIB holders were turning bullish and holding on rather than selling. SHIB’s 30-day realized cap also surged on 9 January suggesting a massive sale.

A key takeaway is that these metrics have not recovered to previous levels. A potential indication of lower demand. Unsurprisingly, the supply distribution reveals that some of the top address categories have been offloading some SHIB.

Source: Santiment

How many are 1,10,100 SHIBs worth today?

Meanwhile, SHIB’s price has extended its upside in the last few days to a new monthly high. Perhaps it managed to continue rallying because of demand from ETH whales. Shiba Inu peaked at $0.000011 in the last 24 hours and managed to rally above the 200-day MA briefly before a sizable pullback.

Source: TradingView

This pullback occurred within the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. The latter is the second Fibonacci retracement zone from its current 12-month bottom.

It is possible that the timing of the ETH whales observation may point toward the return of sell pressure. If that is the case, then SHIB holders should brace for the more potential downside. The caveat is that this is subject to market conditions and major events.