SHIB Whales Wake Up! Institutional Interest Fuels 111% Rally

Guy Fawkes 2026.01.10 3 min read

Major Shiba Inu transfers are picking up again, suggesting that large traders are returning to the meme-coin market.

The shift first appeared in on-chain data. Santiment reported that SHIB saw a +111% jump in transactions worth at least $100,000 over the past week.

SHIB sees 111% surge in whale transfers as institutional interest builds, while price consolidates and traders watch liquidity. — (Source: Santiment)

That puts the token among the top ten projects showing the fastest growth in large transfers for assets valued above $500M.

The update came on Jan. 8, as traders adjusted their positions early in the new year.

SHIB’s price has not reacted sharply as the token traded near $0.00000875 on Friday, up about -0.1% in the past day.

As per Coingecko data, the daily volume stood at roughly $126M, and its market cap was close to $5.13Bn.

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Is SHIB’s Liquidity Enough to Attract Big Institutional Moves?

Analysts say the rise in large transfers still matters. They point to liquidity.

As one market note highlighted, institutions usually stick with assets that hold multi-billion-dollar valuations and steady order books.

It helps them move size with less slippage, and SHIB continues to meet that requirement.

Santiment’s leaderboard shows SHIB is up +111%, but it has lagged behind bigger moves in rival meme tokens. Floki on Ethereum jumped about +950%, while Pepe rose roughly +620%.

That gap suggests traders are still rotating capital within the high-risk meme trade rather than piling into a single name.

Institutional access has also widened. In August 2025, Valour listed a SEK-denominated Shiba Inu exchange-traded product in Sweden.

The firm said the launch reflected demand for simple and transparent access to a broader set of digital assets.

Derivatives data points to active positioning. As per Coinglass data, open interest in SHIB across all exchanges stands at $111.80 million.

As per DefiLlama data, perpetual futures trading volume has reached $660.24M, while spot volume sits near $238.03M.

ShibaSwap’s decentralized exchange activity remains modest, with DefiLlama showing a 24-hour DEX volume of $288,966.

SHIB Price Prediction: Is SHIB Starting a New Trend After Breaking Its Downtrend?

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is also hinting at an early shift in trend after bouncing sharply from recent lows.

A 4-hour chart shared by market analyst ShibSpain shows the token recovering from the $0.0000069–$0.0000072 zone, then pushing into a fast upward move that flipped short-term momentum toward buyers.

Massive reversal$SHIB pic.twitter.com/Letwhglxt8

— Shib Spain (@ShibSpain) January 7, 2026

The rebound carried SHIB back into the $0.0000086–$0.0000089 range, a level that has acted as both support and resistance in past sessions.

Price is now moving sideways inside this band, which points to a cooling period after the strong push rather than a clear rejection.

The structure shows a higher low and then a higher high, breaking the pattern of lower moves that defined the previous downtrend.

ShibSpain’s chart suggests a small pullback and some range trading above support before any new leg higher. If buyers defend this area, SHIB could extend its recovery.

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