Digging deeper into NFT whale positions, Huang Licheng is the only one losing money

Original author | CoinGecko Lim Yu Qian

Compiled | Odaily Planet Daily Jessica

Editor's note: CoinGecko released the NFT whale investment report. In order to have a clearer understanding of the investment and profits of the NFT whales, Odaily Planet Daily compiled it as follows:

Who are the top 20 Ethereum NFT whales?

The top NFT whale is SethS, with a portfolio worth 11,748 ETH (worth approximately $19.23 million as of September 19). Wilcox follows closely behind with a portfolio worth 11,336 ETH (approximately $18.55 million).

These top NFT whales on Ethereum are almost all multi-millionaires based on the value of their NFT holdings, but they have not yet reached the level of billionaires.

Among the top 20 NFT whales, 18 whales hold CryptoPunks. The only one without CryptoPunks, Huang Licheng, holds BAYC worth 4552 ETH, ranking tenth.

The top Ethereum NFT whales, ranked by portfolio value (converted to USD), range from approximately $4.29 million to $19.23 million

Top NFT Whales vs Top NFT Traders

According to CoinGecko data, as of September 20, top NFT traders have made profits ranging from 5221 ETH to 55,291 ETH by investing in Ethereum NFTs, worth US$9.6 million to US$101.63 million.

Four of the top 20 NFT whales are also among the top 15 NFT traders. SethS is the top NFT whale and trader, ranked #1. Likewise, Mr.703 ranks third in both statistics.

In other words, **SethS and Mr.703 may be one of the most successful early NFT investors. **

On the other hand, Wilcox, the second largest whale, ranks low as an NFT trader and makes relatively modest profits. The smaller NFT whale Punks OTC is the second most profitable NFT trader. This may highlight two different NFT investment strategies. Wilcox focuses more on long-term appreciation, while Punks OTC prioritizes short-term high profits.

What NFTs does the whale hold?

Nearly all of the top NFT whales’ valuable portfolios come from holding CryptoPunks. For 18 of the top 20 NFT whales, blue-chip PFP NFT collectibles account for at least half of the portfolio value.

Many NFT whales are considered the "OGs" of CryptoPunks and participated in the minting of the series. In particular, Wilcox currently has the most CryptoPunks at 215, while SethS has 668 CryptoPunks V1.

The exceptions are Machi Big Brother Huang Licheng and JRNY Crypto, who have become the top NFT whales with BAYC. Machi achieved his NFT whale ranking with 135 BAYC, while JRNY Crypto (or Tony) holds 103 BAYC. As of this writing, neither man holds any CryptoPunk in their portfolios.

Unlike the other 19 largest NFT whales, Licheng Huang is the only whale to lose money from his NFT investment, with an estimated total profit and loss (PnL) of approximately -6,776 ETH, most of which is unrealized loss .

The largest NFT collector

Among the top 20 NFT whales, 7 are also big collectors: SethS, Wilcox, Mr.703, Gary Vaynerchuk, Machi, ddaavvee, and JRNY Crypto, who have more than 1,000 NFTs in their respective whale portfolios, For example, NFT whale ddaavvee holds a large number of 4872 NFTs in its athrab.eth address.

Five of the top 20 NFT whales have exceptionally diverse portfolios, with each NFT coming from more than 60 Ethereum holdings. The ddaavvee collection is very diverse, holding over 202 different series, followed by Machi, which holds 101 different series. By comparison, the average number of different NFT collections held by top NFT whales is about 34.

*Note: This research is based on the NFTGo rankings as of September 18. The NFTGo rankings rank whale addresses with NFT portfolio valuations of at least US$1 million. NFTGo identifies highly related addresses based on received and sent volumes and investigates whether they belong to the same whale, grouping them together if relevant. *