Crypto Whales Have Almost Doubled Their Ethereum Holdings This Year

The 2018 bear market has been gut-wrenching for many investors, with the bitcoin price down 80 percent from its all-time high and most other assets suffering from declines of 90 percent or greater. Prices have fallen so far, and stayed down for so long, that many investors who bought cryptocurrency in early 2017 but remain profitable are beginning to cash out before that changes. However, at least when it comes to Ethereum, blockchain data indicates that large-scale holders — colloquially called “whales” — who have hodled through the downturn have bought the dip, significantly growing the size of their holdings.

According to research from Diar, there are currently 500 actively-traded Ethereum addresses among the largest 1,000 addresses. These wallets have accumulated massive amounts of ether during 2018, growing their ETH holdings by 80 percent since January — more than any other period in Ethereum’s history. As of the end of November, these addresses…