As it became known thanks to data from WhaleStats, large Ethereum holders are actively buying up crypto gold, PAXG. As a result of the increased interest, PAXG has become the third largest asset in the portfolio of the hundred largest ETH whales, behind only stablecoins and Ethereum itself. Thus, Paxos-issued crypto gold accounts for a 5.04% or a $138,364,546 share of this investor group's portfolio.
Such behavior by large Ethereum holders can be explained by a desire to create a kind of insurance fund or a safety cushion in case financial markets become increasingly destabilized. Then, when the risks of stagflation and subsequent recession rise, gold could be a good asset to wait out. At the same time, PAXG, one-to-one backed by gold, is a great option for investors who do not want to leave the crypto market.
That said, PAXG performs best against Bitcoin, which is interesting, given the largest cryptocurrency's claim to gold 2.0. Against Ethereum, crypto gold is also showing convincing price action.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is still here
Surprisingly, one of the next biggest assets by position size in the top 100 Ethereum whales' portfolio after PAXG is SHIB. Shiba Inu claims 4.47% of the total portfolio capitalization of this investor group, which is equivalent to $122.8 million. Although SHIB's share has been declining with the downward trend of the last six months, its size is still impressive.
It is unclear how to explain Ethereum whales' commitment to SHIB, but for the cryptocurrency itself, it continues to be a credible support on the one hand and a threat of major sell-offs on the other.