Shiba Inu price has remained in a tight range in recent days as whales sold their coins and the closely watched burn rate plunged.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) was trading at $0.00001410, down 20% from its highest point this month, placing it in a local bear market.
This decline coincided with weak demand in both the spot and futures markets. The 24-hour trading volume for SHIB stood at $200 million, significantly lower than other top meme coins like Dogecoin (DOGE), Pepe (PEPE), and Bonk (BONK).
Additional data shows that open interest in the futures market was $238 million, down from this month’s high of $272 million. In contrast, Pepe’s open interest soared to a record high of nearly $700 million, while Dogecoin reached $2.6 billion.
Whales and smart money investors have also reduced their SHIB holdings this year. According to Nansen, smart money investors currently hold 13.29 billion SHIB tokens as of May 29, down from 14.54 billion in April. Whale holdings have declined to 96 billion coins, from a monthly high of 100 billion.
Shiba Inu’s burn rate has also dwindled, with the 24-hour figure dropping 28% to 13.1 million. The largest SHIB burn this week occurred on Monday, when a user incinerated 23 million coins.
Shiba Inu price cup and handle pattern
The current SHIB price action could be the calm before a breakout. The coin has formed a bullish pennant pattern, consisting of a vertical rally followed by a symmetrical triangle whose trendlines are nearing convergence. This pattern signals a potential bullish breakout.
The triangle section of the pennant also forms part of the handle in a larger cup-and-handle pattern, with a depth of 40%. Based on this structure, SHIB could rally toward $0.00002443, the highest point in January, representing a 70% gain from current levels. A drop below the support at $0.00001228 would invalidate the bullish outlook.
