Dogecoin (DOGE) Whales Go on a Buying Spree as ETF Excitement Renews Institutional and Retail Interest

Crypto analyst Ali reports that Dogecoin whales have scooped up 560 million DOGE following a recent market sell-off.

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) has seen a surge in whale activity, with large holders accumulating a total of 560 million DOGE in the past week, as smaller holders sell their coins amid ETF excitement.

What Happened: CryptoQuant analyst Ali noticed that Dogecoin whales have been on a buying spree, adding 560 million DOGE to their holdings.

The buying spree comes as several asset managers are rushing to file for Dogecoin-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas noted that there are now at least four Dogecoin ETF filings. Grayscale, the largest digital asset manager, has launched a Dogecoin Trust and filed a 19b-4 application to convert it into a spot Dogecoin ETF.

After Grayscale's filing, other major players that have filed for a Dogecoin ETF include Bitwise, Rex Shares, and Osprey Funds.

The institutional interest in Dogecoin ETFs is significant, especially considering that the meme-inspired cryptocurrency had a market capitalization of $32 billion at the time of the report.

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Why It Matters: Dogecoin has largely been known as a meme coin, inspired by the popular Shiba Inu dog breed meme.

However, the institutional interest in a DOGE ETF is a sign of how far the cryptocurrency has come and how it's now being viewed as a serious investment asset.

The price of Dogecoin had been trending lower since January 18, making a high of $0.434 and a low of $0.305 on January 27.

At the time of writing, DOGE was trading at $0.324, down 0.59% for the day as investors were seen to be booking small profits following the release of new inflation data.

Macro Impact On Dogecoin Price Direction: Recent inflation data, released on Friday, showed that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.6% year-over-year in December, while core PCE increased 2.8%—both in line with expectations but higher than the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

The PCE price index data came two days after the Federal Reserve paused cutting interest rates, keeping its key rate in a range of 4.25%-4.5% after three consecutive reductions.

The broader crypto market sell-off occurred as a result, causing DOGE to decline before the recent whale accumulation.