RootData: An Overview of a16z Crypto and 12 Other Whale On-chain Address Holdings and Characteristics

Author: Biscuit, RootData

Bitcoin reached its previous high of around $69,000 in March, and the hot sales of Bitcoin ETF products may be the biggest influencing factor, as institutions increasingly impact the crypto market. How to formulate optimal trading strategies based on institutional movements may be a good approach by observing on-chain data.

After DeFi Summer, the development of on-chain infrastructure has accelerated, and on-chain activities have become increasingly transparent. The holdings and transfers of whale addresses can significantly affect coin prices. Therefore, these whale on-chain activities hide a lot of trading value.

This article will delve into on-chain holdings, covering well-known institutions, active market makers, and industry opinion leaders. Users can easily view this information with one click on RootData's projects, institutions, or personal pages. Notably, RootData's structured data processing extends from MakerDAO's related data to its founder Rune, or similar projects like Uniswap, and even a16z Crypto.

In addition, RootData has launched a tracker feature that tracks the on-chain address dynamics of entities in real-time, covering tens of thousands of addresses including exchanges, VCs, individuals, and project treasuries. By linking on-chain and off-chain data, it provides a higher level of on-chain readability.

What valuable coins do active whale institutions hold on-chain?

a16z Crypto

a16z Crypto is a special fund of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) that focuses on investments at various stages of Web3, with a current asset management scale exceeding $7.6 billion.

According to Rootdata's statistics of 26 a16z Crypto on-chain addresses, as of the time of writing, the largest position held by a16z Crypto is UNI tokens, approximately 44 million (worth $575 million), distributed across multiple addresses. Due to holding too much UNI, a16z was once embroiled in governance disputes over Uniswap proposals.

Paradigm

Paradigm is a research-oriented technology investment firm. According to Rootdata's statistics of 11 Paradigm on-chain addresses, as of the time of writing, Paradigm primarily holds 85,734.9 ETH and 70 million LDO, with a total value of approximately $550 million.

In the past two years, the institution's on-chain activity has decreased. Last July, Paradigm may have sold all MKR, realizing a profit of $17.16 million.

DeFiance Capital

Defiance Capital was founded in 2020 and is based in Singapore, focusing on DeFi crypto asset funds. According to The Block, Defiance Capital completed a $100 million liquidity token fund closure and began investing in March 2023.

According to Rootdata's statistics of 15 DeFiance Capital on-chain addresses, the token with the highest on-chain holdings for this institution is PYUSD, a stablecoin launched in August last year in collaboration with PayPal and the custodian company Paxos, with a market cap of $230 million. As of the time of writing, the highest valued altcoin held by DeFiance Capital is LDO. Although DeFiance Capital has not publicly disclosed its financing for Lido, its founder Arthur has expressed his research views on Lido in a blog and is optimistic about the LSD track in the long run.

Blockchain Capital

Blockchain Capital was founded in 2013 with the mission of helping entrepreneurs build world-class companies and projects based on blockchain technology. Blockchain Capital has launched multiple crypto funds, with payment giants PayPal and Visa among the funding providers. Blockchain Capital focuses on investing in crypto startups that specialize in infrastructure, gaming, DeFi, consumer, and social sectors.

According to Rootdata's statistics of 9 Blockchain Capital on-chain addresses, as of the time of writing, the institution holds a total of 47,000 ETH (worth approximately $181 million) on-chain, with the remaining positions primarily in DeFi category tokens, including UNI, AAVE, ENS, 1INCH, UMA, COW…

Pantera Capital

Since 2013, Pantera Capital has been investing in digital assets and blockchain companies, providing investors with comprehensive investment opportunities in this field. In January 2022, Pantera's new fund, Pantera Venture Fund IV, completed a $1 billion fundraising, stating in its memo that it would only participate in equity transactions and would not directly invest in tokens.

Pantera Capital led the seed round and Series A financing of Ondo Finance, and as of the time of writing, it holds 313 million ONDO (worth approximately $157 million), accounting for 3.13% of the total circulation, but currently, only 139 million are in circulation, with the remaining portion needing to be unlocked.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly is a globally leading investment institution focused on crypto technology, collaborating with crypto technology founders at all development stages from seed rounds to Series D and liquid tokens. To date, Dragonfly has launched 3 funds, raising a total of $950 million.

According to Rootdata's statistics of 7 Dragonfly on-chain addresses, as of the time of writing, the institution's total on-chain holdings are approximately $57 million. Dragonfly led the investment in Frax Finance in 2021, holding 2.36% of FRAX tokens (worth approximately $18.45 million), and its managing partner Haseeb previously founded a stablecoin project.

Market Makers

Wintermute

Wintermute focuses on high-frequency algorithmic trading and market-making services, providing liquidity algorithms for most cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms, and supporting traditional financial institutions to enter the cryptocurrency space.

According to Rootdata's statistics of 34 Wintermute on-chain addresses, as of the time of writing, Wintermute has a total on-chain balance of approximately $352 million, with the largest position being OP tokens, approximately 12.73 million (worth about $60 million).

Jump Trading

Jump Trading started from the CME trading pool and has gradually grown into a research-oriented quantitative trading firm. According to Rootdata's statistics of 34 Jump Trading on-chain addresses, Jump Trading holds multiple cryptocurrencies on-chain, with a total value of approximately $135 million as of the time of writing, with the largest share being ETH (approximately $35 million), along with tokens like SHIB and LINA.

DWF Labs

DWF Labs provides market-making, secondary market investment, early-stage investment, and OTC services for Web3 companies, as well as token listing and consulting services. DWF Labs has emerged as a bright star in the last bear market but has also been embroiled in the debate of "savior of the crypto world or super scythe."

According to Rootdata's statistics of 12 DWF Labs on-chain addresses, as of the time of writing, it holds nearly $55 million in assets on-chain, distributed across more than 130 cryptocurrencies, with the largest position being 151 million ORBS, worth approximately $6.89 million.

Personal Addresses

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has 6 on-chain addresses, holding approximately $1.1 billion in crypto assets, the vast majority of which is ETH.

MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen purchased SHIB on March 1 and 4, instantly gaining substantial floating profits. After BTC reached $69,000, this address bought MKR multiple times. Could this become the next trading signal? Currently, Rune holds approximately $3 million in assets on-chain, with the largest position being MKR (worth about $1.31 million).

1inch co-founder Anton Bukov is also a skilled on-chain trader, having frequently bought high and sold low with ETH and UNI tokens. Currently, his personal address holds a total value of approximately $5 million, primarily in ETH, ILV, and LDO tokens.

Summary

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, besides Grayscale, top institutions like a16z, Paradigm, and Blockchain Capital are the main whales in on-chain holdings. The long-held tokens such as LDO, CRV, RBN, AAVE, and OP are also the positions chosen by several other institutions. Some venture capital firms have opened up new crypto narratives, such as Ondo, led by Pantera Capital, which has shone in the RWA field.

Due to space limitations, users can search for and track valuable addresses on RootData using the methods outlined in this article. For example, during the hot AI track, users can find crypto projects like Filecoin and Arkham invested by Sam Altman through personal connections, potentially positioning themselves for alpha returns. When the meme track explodes, which institutions or celebrities have already purchased or held meme tokens?

At the same time, RootData has launched its first double points event from March 4 to 10, Beijing time. Users can earn double points for actions such as collecting projects, providing content feedback, submitting projects, and creating public collections on the platform. To complement the recent wallet tracker feature, RootData has also added a way to earn points by binding wallets, allowing existing wallet login users to receive equivalent points airdrops, such as NFT exchanges and minting, to reward users who have made outstanding contributions to RootData.