Shiba Inu slid more than 8% over the past day as whale profit-taking after a brief rebound outweighed retail demand, raising the risk of another downside leg for the meme coin. According to CoinGecko, Shiba Inu traded around $0.00000466 at the time of writing, down 8.4% on the day after briefly climbing from last week’s rebound peak near $0.00000537.
On-chain and market indicators point to a fast rotation out of SHIB positions: Santiment data showed large holders began taking profits as smaller investors chased the rally, while CoinGecko and Santiment activity measures suggest the retreat followed a short period of heightened speculative interest.
Key takeaways
- Price move: Shiba Inu fell about 8% in 24 hours to roughly $0.00000466, after retreating from a rebound high near $0.00000537.
- Catalyst: Santiment reported a surge in large-holder sell activity alongside increased retail participation, including whale transactions totaling more than $100,000 in a day.
- Market implication: Concentrated ownership means retail buying may struggle to absorb token supply once whales move assets toward exchanges.
- Technical backdrop: Momentum cooled after SHIB briefly traded above the upper Bollinger Band and RSI hit overbought levels.
What drove the selloff
The immediate drag on SHIB appears to be profit-taking by large holders after the token’s rebound gained traction. According to Santiment, “whale” activity picked up as retail traders entered the move, turning a short-lived rally into a pullback.
Blockchain analytics also linked the rally phase to a surge in retail attention. Santiment data showed SHIB’s social dominance rose to 0.084%, its highest level since April, suggesting interest intensified as prices approached a local top.
However, the on-chain flow suggests that incremental buying from smaller investors was not enough to offset larger holders reducing exposure. Santiment recorded 52 whale transactions worth more than $100,000 within a single day, the highest count since late March. The firm said the higher retail participation created temporary liquidity that allowed large holders to sell without instantly overwhelming exchange order books.
Concentrated ownership raises downside risk
Beyond near-term trading behavior, the token’s ownership distribution can amplify volatility when whales act. Data compiled by Etherscan shows that just 0.05% of wallets control 94.64% of the SHIB supply, leaving price action heavily influenced by a small number of large holders.
Etherscan data also indicates that the burn wallet alone accounts for 41.04% of the supply. On the accessible side, major exchange wallets remain among the biggest holders, including Robinhood at about 3.92% of circulating supply, Binance at about 3.42%, and Crypto.com at about 2.76%.
In practice, that concentration can make rallies more fragile: if whales transfer tokens toward exchanges after a rebound, retail demand may need to rise sharply to prevent additional selling from pushing prices lower.
Market reaction and technical signals
SHIB’s chart setup reflects a move that likely became stretched during the rebound. The report cited daily technicals showing SHIB surged above the upper Bollinger Band during the breakout, then fell back inside the bands, implying the move lost momentum after reaching an extreme.
Momentum indicators also weakened. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) climbed above the overbought 80 level during the rally before dropping to around 46 over the past two sessions, according to the analysis included in the underlying market write-up. Trading volume rose during the rebound and stayed elevated as prices retreated, which the report characterized as activity consistent with profit-taking rather than sustained accumulation.
Levels highlighted by the technical read-through include the Bollinger Band midline near $0.00000495 acting as near-term resistance after the pullback. On the downside, the lower Bollinger Band around $0.00000417 was identified as the next area traders may watch if selling persists.
On the broader trend, the report noted that SHIB was trading near the 50-day exponential moving average around $0.00000460, while remaining well below the 200-day EMA near $0.00000602. It also flagged a volume profile area near $0.0000060 as a heavier resistance zone. The analysis cited an intermediate resistance region near $0.00000503 and near-term downside support around the 20-day EMA near $0.00000447, with a swing-low range around $0.00000420 to $0.00000430 aligning with the lower Bollinger Band.
Bigger picture: correlation and limited fundamental support
The selloff also fits a wider crypto pattern of volatility. SHIB continues to trade with strong correlation to Bitcoin, and periods of uncertainty across the broader market have historically translated into sharper swings for high-risk meme assets, the report said.
Fundamental support appears limited in the near term as well. The underlying piece pointed to Shibarium—introduced to reduce circulating supply via token burns—but said network activity and daily burn volumes have remained relatively modest. As a result, price action may still depend more on speculative demand than on meaningful supply contraction from burns.
Looking ahead, traders will likely focus on whether buyers can reclaim key resistance around the Bollinger midline near $0.00000495 and whether support near $0.00000417 holds if whale selling continues. With the broader crypto market still setting the tone, the next directional signal for SHIB may come from Bitcoin’s stability and any further changes in on-chain whale-to-exchange flows.
