The investor’s total profit (including unrealized gains) equals more than $660 million.

The cryptocurrency market, especially the meme coin sector, offers the opportunity to make solid profits if one enters (and exits) the ecosystem at the right time.

Such was the case with an anonymous trader who became a millionaire thanks to Shiba Inu (SHIB). Check out how.

The Crazy Story

Lookonchain revealed that an OG whale once spent $13,760 to purchase more than 103 trillion SHIB tokens. This substantial amount represents nearly 20% of the meme coin’s circulating supply and, at its peak, was worth almost $9 billion.

The analytics platform disclosed that the industry participant sold 4.06 trillion SHIB over the past few years, pocketing approximately $37.6 million. Most recently, they parted with an additional 800 billion tokens for nearly $5 million. The whale now holds 99.27 trillion coins, while the total profit (including unrealized gains) exceeds $660 million, meaning a 48,000x return on the initial investment.

This isn’t the only example of someone making staggering profits by dealing in Shiba Inu. Two years ago, the meme coin posted a triple-digit monthly surge, and one trader who had spent just $2,500 to buy 50 billion tokens moved most of the stash to Coinbase. At that time, selling these holdings would have netted them over $1.5 million.

Shortly after, another anonymous investor, who had acquired 48 billion SHIB for $2,700 at the beginning of 2021, parted with their entire holdings for approximately $1.24 million.

Was Selling the Right Call Now?

Shiba Inu has been on a massive downfall over the past several months, with its price tumbling by 53% on a yearly scale. Its market capitalization has fallen below $4 billion, and the token is no longer the second-largest meme coin, as MemeCore (M) has taken that position. Dogecoin (DOGE) remains the undisputed leader in the niche, with a capitalization of around $16.5 billion.

You may also like:

Certain elements suggest that SHIB’s pullback may intensify in the short term, making profit-taking now a rather reasonable move. The declining activity on Shibarium is one example. Daily transactions processed on the protocol have plummeted to mere hundreds, signaling weakening network usage. Recall that, prior to last year’s exploit, the figure was in the millions.

Next on the list is SHIB’s burn rate, which has dropped by 26% over the past week. The mechanism, adopted in 2022, aims to reduce the meme coin’s overall supply, potentially driving up prices due to scarcity (assuming demand remains constant or heads north).

SHIB’s rising balance stored on exchanges should serve as another warning. Over the past several days, investors have abandoned self-custody methods and moved some of their holdings to centralized platforms, thereby increasing immediate selling pressure.