Stablecoin supply is becoming less concentrated among whales, which analysts say could leave more investors ready to buy.
Stablecoin whales control a smaller share of Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) on Ethereum than they did three months ago, a shift analysts at Santiment see as a quiet bullish signal for crypto.
The change comes as the two dollar-linked tokens continue to dominate the stablecoin market and provide much of the liquidity traders use to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The 100 largest USDT wallets on Ethereum now control about 0.6% less of the token’s available supply than they did three months ago, Santiment said in a research note.
Quietest Bullish Trends
Concentration fell much faster for USDC, with its 100 largest Ethereum wallets controlling roughly 4.7% less of the available supply over the same period. Santiment’s metric tracks the share of each token’s Ethereum supply held collectively by its 100 largest addresses.
Santiment called the shift one of the “quietest bullish trends” taking place on Ethereum, arguing that stablecoin liquidity is moving beyond a relatively small group of large wallets. The analysts wrote:
“Rather than idle capital waiting for a few whales to act, it’s a sign that stablecoin firepower is becoming more decentralized, which is exactly the kind of foundation that can support stronger and more sustainable market advances.”
Still, the data measures wallet concentration rather than the number of actual owners. A single address may belong to an exchange, custodian or protocol and hold funds for thousands of users, so a decline among the top 100 wallets does not necessarily mean individual whales are selling.
It also does not guarantee that those stablecoins will be used to buy crypto.
Read also: Dune: USDT Dominates Payments, USDC Leads DeFi — Stablecoins No Longer Compete
USDT, USDC Control 83% of the Market
As of July 14, USDT has about $184 billion in circulation across all blockchains, giving it around 60% of the $310 billion stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama. USDC has about $73 billion, or nearly 24%.
Together, the two tokens accounted for more than $257 billion, equal to about 85% of the stablecoin market.
Ethereum held about $150 billion in stablecoins, including $76.5 billion in USDT and nearly $47 billion in USDC. USDT boasts nearly $40 billion in trading volume over the latest 24-hour period, compared with roughly $11 billion for USDC, according to CoinGecko.
Read more: Hyundai Units Test Stablecoin Transfer With Tether, Avalanche
