Dusk recently rumors have circulated that institutional holdings might have increased from 45% to 70%. Although there is no official confirmation and the source is unclear, this is definitely worth considering. If true, what does it imply? If false, why would such claims be made?

Looking back, the 45% figure most likely comes from estimates based on initial token distribution. During the first allocation in 2019, the combined share of institutions and project team was close to 80%. By April 2022, when the unlock period ended, no one really knows how much institutions still held. If holdings truly increased to 70%, spot selling pressure would significantly decrease, providing price support. The problem is, there is currently no on-chain data to confirm this, nor any public announcement.

Let's examine the on-chain situation. The top five addresses still hold 68.65%, with no change. Binance's cold wallet contains 13.46%, which is mostly retail custodial funds. If institutions really increased their holdings, they would likely do so through OTC channels, which are inherently opaque. The only way to indirectly observe this is through net outflows from exchanges.

Logically, increasing holdings to 25% of circulating supply in the short term would require investing about 37.5 million USD. The market should have already reacted to this. Such rumors, frankly, could just be a common marketing tactic in the crypto space aimed at triggering retail FOMO.