Shiba Inu price at risk as whales sell, exchange reserves rise

Shiba Inu price remains under pressure and is hovering near its lowest level this year as demand wanes.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) token dropped to $0.0000092, a few points above the year-to-date low of $0.0000083. It has been one of the top laggards in the crypto industry, plunging by 72% from its highest point this year. 

Shiba Inu’s crash has happened because of the lack of demand from investors. Data compiled by CoinMarketCap shows that its volume in the spot market has tumbled to below $200 million. Its futures open interest has also remained substantially low in the past few months. 

The drop also happened as whales exited their positions, a sign that investors expect it to drop further. Whales now hold 102 billion tokens, well below the 220 billion they had in late October this year.

Public figures and so-called smart-money investors have recently reduced their Shiba Inu positions. Savvy money investors hold 43 billion tokens, while public figure investors hold 399 billion tokens, down by 23% and 4.8% over the last 30 days, respectively. 

These dynamics apply to Shiba Inu and other meme coins. A closer look shows that whales have dumped tokens like Pepe and Dogwifhat. 

On the positive side, the number of Shiba Inu tokens on exchanges has dropped to 277 trillion, down from 295 trillion in October last year. 

SHIB exchange reserves are falling | Source: Nansen

Falling exchange reserves is a good thing as it shows that many holders are moving their tokens to their self-custody wallets. However, this is not enough of a factor to boost its price, as the token faces other challenges. For example, its burn rate and activity on Shibarium have slumped. 

Shiba Inu price technical analysis

SHIB price chart | Source: crypto.news

The daily timeframe chart shows that the SHIB price has been under pressure this month. It has dropped below all moving averages and formed a descending triangle pattern, a common bearish continuation sign. 

SHIB has already moved below the lower side of the descending triangle pattern and retested it. A break-and-retest usually confirms a bearish breakout. 

Therefore, it will likely continue falling as bears target the key support at $0.0000075. This view will be confirmed if it drops below the $0.0000083 support level.