By CCN: A recent study by Chainalysis Inc. found that just 376 people in the world own one third of all the Ether cryptocurrency there is. For comparison the company says 448 people own 20 percent of all Bitcoin.
The study also looked at the effect that cryptocurrency “whales,” with out-sized stakes in the limited supply of highly sought after coins, have on Ether prices. They found the effect of whales on Ether’s price is minimal.
Chainalysis senior economist Kim Grauer says:
“The majority of whales aren’t traders. They’re mostly holding.”
Researchers also discovered that when Ethereum whales move massive amounts of Ether from their private wallets to exchanges, there is a small, but statistically significant bump in market volatility for Ethereum.
The researchers say they regret this Spring’s cryptocurrency bull rush didn’t begin a month earlier so its movements could have been part of their analysis for the study.
Market Adoption Should Flatten Ethereum’s Economy
Ether distribution is so stratified because it’s a new technology still in the early stages of market adoption. Product Adoption Curve: Crazy Egg
The steep stratification of Ethereum wallet amounts is a sign that it is still in the early stages of market adoption. Another comparison to bitcoin: Ethereum had 50 million wallets in December 2018. Bitcoin had 460 million active wallets in December 2018. And of the 50 million Ethereum wallets, only 330,000 were active in December.
As Ethereum progresses into a more mature stage of market adoption it will bring many smaller wallets into the blockchain. The top heavy Ether distribution will naturally flatten out over this progression. In the meantime this profile of Ether’s distribution revealed by Chainalysis evinces the massive amount of upside investment potential of the smart contract cryptocurrency platform, even as its market cap closes in on $30 million again with the price of Ether above $250.
Ether Price Leads Bull Run As Bitcoin Cools Off
Bitcoin’s decisive breakout has slowed down a bit. Meanwhile Ethereum’s price is on a tear and cryptocurrency investors are very bullish for Ether. | Source: Shutterstock
Ethereum’s price, along with Ripple’s, hit a year to date high in a parabolic 24-hour trading period Wednesday. While Bitcoin has slowed down after making a remarkable 30 day run for 58% price gains, Ethereum is rocketing off.
The reason why, as Bitcoin and cryptocurrency analyst Nik Patel, points out on Twitter, is bitcoin’s price surges are historically followed by a steep price rally in altcoins:
Couple of fun facts:
– Of the previous 4 ALTBTC bear cycles, the average drawdown has been 69.7%. The current drawdown of this ALTBTC bear cycle is 66.5%.
– The average growth experienced across the past 5 ALTBTC bull cycles was 617%.
— Nik Patel (@cointradernik) May 14, 2019
This has cryptocurrency investors extremely bullish on Ethereum right now, expecting a rally that could rocket Ethereum past $300.
