Stablecoin Market Cap Decreases, But Whales Remain Unfazed: Santiment

Samuel Edyme

1 year ago

3 mins read

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According to data from leading crypto analytics firm Santiment, a distinct trend has unfolded in the stablecoin sphere. Even as stablecoins designed to maintain parity with a reserve asset like the US dollar, continue to hold their $1 peg, the combined market capitalization of the top five stablecoins – Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), Dai (DAI), and TrueUSD (TUSD) – has been experiencing a consistent decrease.

Santiment reports earlier today that this downtrend began about 15 months ago, following a peak in March 2022. According to Santiment, Stablecoin market capitalization serves as a reliable indicator of the overall health of the crypto market.

An upswing in the market cap signifies an increased buying power to purchase Bitcoin or altcoins in the future, often hinting at a potential market recovery. Conversely, a declining market cap could indicate that Bitcoin and altcoins are being liquidated, suggesting that large holders have been banking profits.

Sharks And Whales Remain Unshaken

Among the stablecoin ecosystems, large holders, colloquially known as ‘whales’ or ‘sharks,’ represent an interesting variable. These entities, which typically hold between $100,000 and $10 million in assets, play a crucial role in market dynamics.

Despite the decreasing market cap, Santiment’s analysis reveals that these whales are far from unnerved. Specifically, the analytics firm reports that sharks and whales holding Tether, USD Coin, and Dai currently command over 40%, 37%, and just under 40% of the respective supplies.

These holdings are the highest they’ve been since November 2021 or February 2023, suggesting that these whales are merely holding their wealth in stablecoin form, biding their time for an opportune moment to jump back into other more volatile assets.

Steady Accumulation Amid Dormant Stablecoin Movements

While the collective stablecoin market cap has been dropping, Santiment notes a steady accumulation of assets among whales. This pattern lacks any sudden major moves, which might otherwise signify a potential market bottom in a declining environment.

The recent weeks have also seen minimal movement among dormant stablecoins, which could have suggested major buys of Bitcoin or altcoins. Although USD Coin has shown some promising dormant movement at the end of May, the activity falls short of the dormant stablecoins surge witnessed in mid-March, which ignited a notable bull rally.

Meanwhile, according to data from DeFillama, the total stablecoin market capitalization currently stands above $120 billion, down by nearly 1% in the past 7 days. Notably, out of all the stablecoins, Tether’s USDT holds the most dominance at 64.57%.

The stablecoin currently has a market capitalization above $80 billion while Circle’s USDC Coin ranks second in the stablecoin market with a market cap of $28.7 billion. It is worth noting that as the stablecoin market has decreased steadily, larger crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum may be benefitting from this metric.

Over the past 24 hours, both Bitcoin and Ethereum have shown an uptick up by nearly 1% respectively. This uptrend comes despite the regulatory scrutiny in crypto which has recently affected the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance and Coinbase.

Bitcoin (BTC)’s price chart on TradingView — Bitcoin (BTC)’s price moving sideways on the 4-hour chart. Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView

Samuel Edyme

Meet Samuel Edyme, Nickname - HIM-buktu. A web3 content writer, journalist, and aspiring trader, Edyme is as versatile as they come. With a knack for words and a nose for trends, he has penned pieces for numerous industry player, including AMBCrypto, Blockchain.News, and Blockchain Reporter, among others.

Edyme’s foray into the crypto universe is nothing short of cinematic. His journey began not with a triumphant investment, but with a scam. Yes, a Ponzi scheme that used crypto as payment roped him in. Rather than retreating, he emerged wiser and more determined, channeling his experience into over three years of insightful market analysis.

Before becoming the voice of reason in the crypto space, Edyme was the quintessential crypto degen. He aped into anything that promised a quick buck, anything ape-able, learning the ropes the hard way. These hands-on experience through major market events—like the Terra Luna crash, the wave of bankruptcies in crypto firms, the notorious FTX collapse, and even CZ’s arrest—has honed his keen sense of market dynamics.

When he isn’t crafting engaging crypto content, you’ll find Edyme backtesting charts, studying both forex and synthetic indices. His dedication to mastering the art of trading is as relentless as his pursuit of the next big story. Away from his screens, he can be found in the gym, airpods in, working out and listening to his favorite artist, NF. Or maybe he’s catching some Z’s or scrolling through Elon Musk’s very own X platform—(oops, another screen activity, my bad…)

Well, being an introvert, Edyme thrives in the digital realm, preferring online interaction over offline encounters—(don’t judge, that’s just how he is built). His determination is quite unwavering to be honest, and he embodies the philosophy of continuous improvement, or “kaizen,” striving to be 1% better every day. His mantras, “God knows best” and “Everything is still on track,” reflect his resilient outlook and how he lives his life.

In a nutshell, Samuel Edyme was born efficient, driven by ambition, and perhaps a touch fierce. He’s neither artistic nor unrealistic, and certainly not chauvinistic. Think of him as Bruce Willis in a train wreck—unflappable. Edyme is like trading in your car for a jet—bold. He’s the guy who’d ask his boss for a pay cut just to prove a point—(uhhh…). He is like watching your kid take his first steps. Imagine Bill Gates struggling with rent—okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but you get the idea, yeah. Unbelievable? Yes. Inconceivable? Perhaps.

Edyme sees himself as a fairly reasonable guy, albeit a bit stubborn. Normal to you is not to him. He is not the one to take the easy road, and why would he? That’s just not the way he roll. He has these favorite lyrics from NF’s “Clouds” that resonate deeply with him: “What you think's probably unfeasible, I've done already a hundredfold.”

PS—Edyme is HIM. HIM-buktu. Him-mulation. Him-Kardashian. Himon and Pumba. He even had his DNA tested, and guess what? He’s 100% Him-alayan. Screw it, he ate the opp.

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