Analysis: Shiba Inu Whale Holds 103 Trillion SHIB Unmoved for 5 Years, $10,000 Investment Once Valued at $50 Billion

According to Odaily, blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps has disclosed that a mysterious whale address cluster within the Shiba Inu (SHIB) ecosystem has held approximately 103 trillion SHIB since 2020. The entity initially spent just 38 ETH (roughly $10,000 at the time) to build the position, which once peaked at an unrealized valuation exceeding $50 billion, marking one of the most astonishing investment cases in crypto market history.

Bubblemaps' tracking reveals that the whale initially purchased 103 trillion SHIB through the wallet address 0x1406, accounting for about 10% of the circulating supply at the time. As the SHIB price surged, the position's value once reached approximately $5 billion. Currently, the address cluster's holdings are still valued at over $2.5 billion, representing a cumulative return of more than 21,000 times.

To reduce exposure risk, the whale split the assets across 14 addresses in November 2021. In January 2023, Bubblemaps first disclosed this SHIB whale cluster, which then controlled about 10% of the SHIB supply, valued at over $1 billion, sparking community discussions about high concentration of holdings by a single entity.

Subsequently, the address cluster underwent continuous address migration and splitting. In September 2023, Bubblemaps found that its holdings had spread from a few prominent wallets to many new addresses, a typical tactic to reduce on-chain visibility. Using its Magic Nodes tool, Bubblemaps was still able to identify the connections between these wallets.

During the SHIB price surge in early 2024, the whale's position value exceeded $2 billion again, with the number of wallets expanding to over 170 addresses. As of now, the cluster still controls approximately 8.51% of the SHIB circulating supply, a decrease from the initial 10% ratio. However, Bubblemaps notes that this is primarily due to normal on-chain transfers, with no signs of large-scale selling detected.

Bubblemaps points out that this case highlights the significant value of on-chain transparency tools: an entity can conceal massive holdings by splitting wallets, but all fund transfers leave public on-chain records. This SHIB whale case has also become a typical example for observing "whale behavior, holding concentration, and on-chain tracking" within the crypto market.