In a notable development, giant US brokerage firm Robinhood has made a significant move, amassing an astonishing 233 billion Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens in under 24 hours.
This revelation surfaced through the insights of a prominent Shiba Inu enthusiast, “Lola,” on X, who substantiated her claim with data from Arkham Intelligence. According to the provided data, as of January 16, Robinhood held around 36.45 trillion SHIB tokens.
However, Lola’s analysis unveiled a rapid surge in Robinhood’s SHIB holdings, reaching 36.68 trillion in the early hours of Wednesday. This marks an increase of over 230 billion SHIB in less than a day, translating to a total value of approximately $349 million in SHIB held by the exchange.
Remarkably, Shiba Inu has now secured the position of the third-largest cryptocurrency by dollar value on Robinhood, trailing behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is important to note that institutions, including Vanguard, BlackRock, and Ark Investment, own 73% of Robinhood shares. Out of the 20,000 cryptocurrencies available, Robinhood has listed only 15, with SHIB being one of them. This deliberate inclusion underscores the keen interest of the firm’s investors in the meme cryptocurrency.
That said, this sudden accumulation by Robinhood aligns with a broader trend of large holders, commonly known as crypto whales, accumulating SHIB. According to data from IntoTheBlock, Shiba Inu has demonstrated a remarkable surge in large transactions this week, boasting an impressive increase of over 500%. These substantial transactions are categorized as transfers surpassing the $100,000 threshold.
The data further reveals a remarkable increase, soaring from 902.36 billion SHIB on Jan. 14 to an astounding 6.61 trillion SHIB on Wednesday. Such spikes in large transaction volumes often indicate significant activity among whales, whether buying or selling.
Interestingly, just yesterday, Etherscan, an on-chain analytics firm, revealed the emergence of an Ethereum (ETH) whale from crypto hibernation, amassing an impressive 606.36 billion SHIB, equating to a significant investment of $5.80 million.
That said, while Robinhood displays significant interest in SHIB, the token is grappling with bearish market sentiment. Over the past week, its price has decreased by just over 5% and was trading at $0.000009525 at press time. Nonetheless, despite the current downturn, the substantial accumulation of SHIB by Robinhood hints at a potential bullish trend in the near future.