Fresh data published by on-chain analytics platform Santiment and highlighted by market commentator Ali Martinez show that the largest Dogecoin investors have spent the last four weeks quietly expanding their positions as activity on the network accelerates.

This comes as the memecoin’s price grinds toward a make-or-break technical ceiling.

According to the chart shared by Martinez on April 13, the ‘mid-tier whales’ – a segment of wallets holding between 100 million and 1 billion DOGE – had a combined balance of roughly 24.6 billion DOGE.

But by May 13, their collective balance had climbed to just under 26.0 billion DOGE, which is highlighted by the grey area in the whale accumulation chart.

The difference of about 1.4 billion DOGE – worth a little over $300 million at prevailing spot prices – confirms that large holders have been absorbing significant supply even as the token rallies.

At the time of the snapshot the cohort controlled 25.97 billion DOGE, although the value already peaked at roughly 26.5 billion DOGE on May 10.

Network activity appears to be following the money. A second Santiment dashboard shows daily active addresses vaulting from the low five-figure area in mid-April to peaks above 680,000 on May 12-13, before easing to 69,200 on the May 15 print.

Transaction volume in US dollar terms – shown in the light blue line – has mirrored the surge, spiking to $1.21 billion and still holding an elevated $549.96 million on the latest reading.

Perhaps most telling for market depth, the count of individual transfers greater than $1 million – plotted in purple on Martinez’s chart – ballooned during the same window, underscored that the activity surge is being driven in no small part by large-ticket trades rather than retail churn.

DOGE Price Faces Key Resistance

While the tape of flows looks constructive, the price chart argues that the market remains at a critical juncture.

On the three-day candle chart shared by Martinez, DOGE is trading at $0.2277 and pressing into a supply wall that caps the band between roughly $0.24 and $0.26.

The horizontal zone – shaded in grey – was sturdy support throughout December 2024 and became resistance after the mid-February breakdown. It has since produced several clean rejections, each marked by Martinez’s downward arrows. Another breach attempt earlier this week pierced the band intraday but failed to day close above it, leaving the level intact.

Should buyers manage to sustain a decisive close above $0.2600 on a day basis, the chart shows a vacuum up to the psychological $0.3000 handle, a move Martinez argues “could spark a new bull run.” Conversely, failure to clear the ceiling risks a swing back toward the mid-$0.1700 area where the April basing structure began.

To be clear, the build-up of large-scale transactions is nothing new. But the fact that they’re continuing to escalate despite the stalled price action suggests an underlying demand that isn’t easily satisfied by smaller trades.

As the final component of his analysis, Martinez also included an overview of Dogecoin’s active addresses and transaction volume. Both measures