Dogecoin Whales Offload Billions of Tokens: Further Price Crash Incoming?

TL;DR

Large investors parted with almost $200 million worth of DOGE in the last two days.
Their actions could lead to panic among smaller players and set the stage for a further price decline for the meme coin.

Whales Are Cashing Out

The latest crash of the cryptocurrency sector did not spare Dogecoin, whose price tanked to as low as $0.13 on April 7. This was the lowest point observed since October 2024. In the following days, the meme coin experienced a minor resurgence and currently trades at roughly $0.14 (per CoinGecko’s data), representing a 16% plunge on a weekly basis.

Amid the downfall in the past 48 hours, large investors dumped 1.32 billion DOGE. The stash equals over $190 million (calculated at current rates). 

According to Ali Martinez, whales (those who hold at least one million tokens) now hold around 70.5 billion DOGE or approximately 47% of the meme coin’s circulating supply. 

The whales’ selling spree increases the amount of tokens in circulation and could be followed by a further price retreat if demand remains the same or weakens. Furthermore, their actions could trigger panic within the community, prompting smaller investors to sell as well, which would intensify the downward pressure on the price.

DOGE ETP Fails to Reverse the Trend

Earlier today (April 9), the leading issuer of crypto exchange-traded products 21Shares introduced a Dogecoin ETP which will be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker: DOGE) The launch of the financial instrument comes after an exclusive partnership with the House of Doge. 

The company behind the product explained that 21Shares Dogecoin ETP is 100% physically backed, “offering a transparent and seamless way” for investors to gain exposure to the asset through traditional financial channels.

DOGE registered little-to-no price movements on the news and remains deep in red territory. Perhaps launching a spot Dogecoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will have a more positive impact. 

Bitwise and Grayscale are among the prominent firms that intend to introduce this type of investment vehicle. According to Polymarket, the likelihood of approval by the end of 2025 is currently around 64%.