After several months of underperforming, the self-proclaimed Dogecoin killer finally posted a decisive rebound over the weekend. However, the pump was short-lived as the bears quickly intercepted the move and dragged the price down.

The enthusiasm faded, while a well-known analytics platform outlined when the next buying opportunity might emerge.

Retail Attention Arrived Late

Just a few days ago, Shiba Inu recorded a sudden 35% price jump to reach a two-month high of around $0.00000582 (per CoinGecko). Some potential factors that may have acted as catalysts for the significant revival include a whale that has resumed accumulating after more than half a year of inactivity, as well as the notable resurgence of the burning mechanism.

The bulls, though, lost momentum, and SHIB currently trades at roughly $0.000004631, representing a nearly 20% decline from the local high. The analytics platform Santiment noted that amid the rally, there were 52 whale transactions in a single day, the most since March 31.

“Activity strongly suggests larger holders took profits into strength,” it added.

On the other hand, retail investors joined the party too late and chased the excitement near the top, “giving whales the liquidity needed to reduce their exposure.”

According to the entity, the smart approach with meme coins is to cash out when retail FOMO spikes, and re-enter once the crowd turns hostile and calls the token a scam.

It seems like X user Crypto King had followed these rules. On July 26, the trader noted the double-digit price increase, the whales’ accumulation, the exploding burn rate, and rising volume to open a short position.

“These euphoric pumps have a habit of trapping late buyers… but the market loves proving people wrong,” they said.

What Comes Next?

As mentioned above, SHIB lost its traction, while the broader cryptocurrency market flashed in red again, which could lead to a further downfall for the meme coin in the near term.

The rising amount of tokens stored on exchanges serves as another warning. CryptoQuant’s data shows that the figure has been constantly rising over the past several days, reaching a two-week high of around 86.7 trillion units. Such a development suggests that many investors have abandoned self-custody and flocked to centralized platforms, thus increasing immediate selling pressure.

The stalled activity on Shibarium is also worth mentioning. The layer-2 scaling solution, designed to foster the advancement of Shiba Inu’s ecosystem, was once considered among the primary catalysts that could trigger a price increase for the meme coin. However, after an exploit in September last year, the protocol saw a sharp decline in usage, dropping to merely hundreds or thousands of daily transactions.

Source: CryptoPotato