An early Shiba Inu whale has resurfaced after years of relative silence, triggering renewed attention across the crypto market. The move comes as Shiba Inu continues to face pressure amid broader market weakness. Large on-chain transfers often raise questions about holder intent and potential market impact. This latest activity has revived focus on one of SHIB’s earliest and largest investors.
Early Shiba Inu whale resurfaces with major OKX transfer
Blockchain analyst EmberCN reported that the whale transferred 469 billion SHIB to the OKX exchange over the past day, citing Arkham on-chain data. The tokens are estimated to carry a value of $3.64 million at current prices. EmberCN noted that the address traces back to an investor who accumulated 103 trillion SHIB in 2020, when the token remained largely unknown.
At the time, the whale spent just 37.8 ETH, worth about $13,752, to acquire the massive position. That holding represented roughly 17.4% of Shiba Inu’s current total supply. According to EmberCN, the wallet has remained active over the years, moving assets such as ETH, BNB, and UDS, but SHIB transfers have remained limited.
On-chain data shows the whale first routed the SHIB through an unidentified intermediary wallet. One transaction carried 468.98 billion SHIB, while a second moved 5 million SHIB. Shortly after, the same amounts were transferred to an address linked to OKX in two separate transactions. The associate such routing patterns with efforts to reduce direct traceability between wallets and centralized exchanges.
Whale retains majority stake despite market speculation
Transfers to exchanges often suggest preparations to sell or swap tokens. However, EmberCN said on-chain data does not confirm whether the 469 billion SHIB has already been sold. The amount represents only a small fraction of the whale’s total holdings.
During the 2021 bull market peak, the whale’s SHIB position reached an estimated value of $9.1 billion. Despite that surge, the investor did not liquidate most of the tokens and continued holding through subsequent market cycles. This long-term behavior has led to the address being one of the most resilient SHIB holders.
Current data indicates the whale still controls about 96.684 trillion SHIB. That figure equals roughly 16.4% of the total supply and carries an estimated value of $722.23 million. While the whale has sold limited amounts over time, the core position remains intact.
The transfer comes as Shiba Inu struggles alongside the wider crypto market. SHIB has dropped 64.9% year to date and declined 15.1% over the past 30 days, and at the time of writing, SHIB was trading at $0.000007517 down by 3% in the last 24 hours.
SHIB Price chart, Source: CoinMarketCap
Source: https://coinpaper.com/13192/early-shiba-inu-whale-moves-469-billion-shib-to-okx
