Data from analytics firm Glassnode shows that the number of 1INCH tokens held in wallets tied to centralized exchanges on Tuesday rose to a record high of over 184.28 million ($65 million). This 50% increase in the so-called exchange balance in three days represents 18.65% of the circulating supply of 987.6 million and 12.2% of the total supply of 1.5 billion. 1INCH is the native token of decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator 1inch, launched in December 2020.
The notable increase in balance held in exchange wallets is often seen as a precursor of price volatility. This was the case for 1INCH, which fell by 10% to 36 cents on Tuesday, registering its biggest single-day (UTC) decline since June 10, according to data from charting platform TradingView. The cryptocurrency was trading at 35 cents at press time, down 18% for the week. This decline reversed most of the token’s surge from 30 cents to nearly 60 cents observed in seven days to July 16.
Per Prithvir Jhaveri, co-founder and CEO of Loch Research, profit taking by a whale is one of the factors responsible for the price drop. The whale who initiated the pump decreased his holdings to 91m tokens, which is less than what he held before the pump, Jhaveri tweeted late Tuesday. The whale sold at the top in conjunction with Celsius selling. On Monday, bankrupt crypto lender Celsius moved more than a million worth of ZRX, 1INCH and Tether’s gold-pegged stablecoin XAUT to institutional crypto exchange FalconX, potentially to liquidate them for Bitcoin and Ether.