The Shiba Inu price has recorded an unexpected gain of more than 13% recently, decisively breaking away from the extended bear trend that had suppressed its momentum. Notably, 2026 is already shaping up to be a transformative year for the crypto market, with meme coins like Shiba Inu benefiting from the broader bullish shift and growing demand. With the Shiba Inu price now testing higher valuation zones, on-chain data has revealed the underlying forces behind its recent price surge   

Key Drivers Behind The Shiba Inu Price Rally

Shiba Inu surged more than 13% on Sunday, January 4, as the broader 2026 meme coin frenzy began unexpectedly and continued to rotate capital among speculative assets. According to data from Santiment, a crypto analytics platform, SHIB’s sudden upside move was largely driven by aggressive accumulation from top whales rather than a surge in retail demand. 

In a post on X, Santiment analysts noted that large holders were tightening their grip on Shiba Inu’s supply amid muted retail distribution. This behaviour points to growing confidence among dominant whale wallets and suggests that the recent price rally was not fueled by short-term, hype-driven buying. 

Price data also shows the Shiba Inu climb began at the start of January this year, after spending several weeks consolidating near recent lows. Notably, the recent bounce followed a prolonged downtrend that spanned late October through December 2025, making the 13% price jump stand out as a clear shift in momentum. 

Overlaying the price action is a rising line on Santiment’s chart that tracks the percentage of SHIB supply held by the top 10 whale wallets. While prices fluctuated throughout the second half of 2025, this metric steadily increased, signaling consistent accumulation even as broader market conditions remained weak. 

At the time of the analysis, the 10 largest Shiba Inu wallets collectively controlled about 62.65% of the total supply. Such a high level of concentration is unusual and gives large token holders significant influence over short-term price movements. The single largest wallet alone held roughly 41% of the total SHIB supply, valued at approximately $3.3 billion. 

Meanwhile, other top whale wallets each controlled between 2.8% and 5.7%, with several individual addresses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Notably, the timing of Shiba Inu’s 13% price jump aligns with a visible uptick in whale concentration at the far right of the chart. As more supply became locked up, available liquidity thinned, allowing relatively modest buying pressure to push prices significantly higher. 

Shiba Inu’s Total Gains In 2026 So Far

According to Santiment, Shiba Inu’s performance in 2026 now stands at a gain of more than 32% Year-to-Date (YTD). If wallet concentration remains elevated and whales continue to grow wealthier, volatility is likely to persist as prices respond quickly to shifts in large-holder behavior. At the time of writing, Shiba Inu is trading at $0.00000916, reflecting a roughly 5% increase in just one day.