How to Read Top 100 Holders With Nansen Before Tokens 10x
What does a 46,000% pump on
$AIXBT, a 10,000% pump on
$COAI, a 4,000% pump on
$TIBBIR, and a 2,000% pump on
$ASTER have in common?
High Top 100 holder concentration.
Learn to read this data correctly and on time, and you can front-run massive moves and profit from them👇
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1⃣ Why Do Top 100 Holders Even Matter?
The Top 100 Holders of a token are the 100 wallet addresses holding the largest amounts of that specific token.
When they control a very high percentage (e.g., 80%+), this typically means:
• Higher price volatility
• Potential for large market movements if they sell
• Less decentralized distribution
In Telegram groups, I constantly hear: "Top 100 hold 50%+ of supply. Unhealthy distribution, they'll dump on us as exit liquidity."
While there's truth to this concern, it completely lacks context. High Top 100 concentration can signal both massive opportunity and imminent rugpull. The difference lies in the pattern, timing, and composition.
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2⃣ Why Top 100 Concentration Can Be Bullish
For newly launched tokens especially, a high supply concentration signals dumping risk.
I often skip these plays, if there is no proper explanation or vesting for the top tokens. The risk is simply too high, especially with teams who say "you don't have to worry about anything ser."
I am not going to share the ticker here, but the last time I heard that phrase for a token last week, the token nuked 99%.
But "big money" Top 100 holders are also necessary as their accumulation can be extremely bullish. When they're net buyers (especially Smart Money, Funds, and Whales), it signals:
• Confidence (large holders risking significant capital)
• Reduced circulating supply creating squeeze dynamics
• Undervalued opportunity they've identified before the market
• Leadership that retail will follow eventually once visible
These type of holders often have superior research capabilities and earlier access to understanding of project developments. They accumulate before information becomes public, creating supply squeezes that could amplify price movements.
Other traders that look on-chain (like you and me) watch what these holders and other "smart market making segments" do, creating a follow-on effect once accumulation becomes visible.
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3⃣ Four Case Studies of Top 100 Patterns
Let's dig into four on-chain examples to understand what happened with Top 100 wallets and price action for a project.
➥ Example 1:
$COAI (Manipulation Pattern)
On Sep 25, Top 100 holders for
$COAI increased from 5.67% to 98.23% in one day. Two weeks later, the price pumped 10,000%.
IMO this is textbook manipulation. The single-day accumulation of 92.56% is the red flag. There were probably plenty of reasons, but no organic accumulation ever looked like this.
Takeaway: Sudden, dramatic Top 100 increases (>75% in a day) could indicate manipulation, especially if there is no information. That doesn’t mean you can’t take the opportunity, just know what you’re buying and the risk you’re taking.
If I would have spotted this earlier, I would have taken the bet. And I am not saying this because of the 10,000% price pump that came afterwards. It's all about the risk to reward bet you're willing to take.
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➥ Example 2:
$AIXBT (Bullish Accumulation)
For
$AIXBT, the Top 100 holders gradually accumulated to around 85% by Nov 6. With most tokens locked in their hands, the available float became severely limited. Strong buying pressure on tiny supply, in the middle of an AI bull season, fuelled a 46,000% pump in under 3 months.
Takeaway: Key difference from
$COAI here is that there was gradual accumulation with Smart Money labels visible.
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➥ Example 3:
$TIBBIR (Steady Conviction)
Now for
$TIBBIR, we saw a textbook Top 100 accumulation play. The token didn't have a sudden Top 100 increase. Instead, it grew steadily alongside price, showing a textbook example of how dedicated Top 100 holders affect price action.
As a matter of a fact,
$TIBBIR is the only chart I've seen where Top 100 holders showed such consistent holding conviction. Currently sitting at 53% of supply (real wallets / holders, no big team vestings or multisigs), with almost everyone still holding. The correlation between Top 100 growth and price is nearly perfect.
Takeaway: When Top 100 grows steadily with price and holders maintain conviction through volatility, it signals genuine accumulation. This is the most important reason IMO why
$TIBBIR grew so high in MC and almost hit $500M MC.
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➥ Example 4:
$ASTER (Artificial Scarcity)
Top 100 controlled 96% from launch, with three multisigs holding 67.28%. At that time, around 4% (ish) was tradeable on DEXes.
This resulted in massive buying pressure on a tiny float, when KOLs hyped it as the "Hyperliquid killer backed by CZ." The result: a 2,000% pump on artificial scarcity in just one week.
Then onchain flow volatility increased and unlocks hit. Oct 13: 320M moved from multisig to vault. Oct 15: 399M to Binance. Price collapsed 60% (I've warned about this scenario on Oct 2).
Takeaway: Extreme concentration (>90%) from launch, especially in multisigs, combined with maximum hype and a tiny float, is a typical distribution setup. Smart Money and Top PnL knew this, caught the pump and front-runned the inevitable unlock. And look where we are at now.
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4⃣ Critical Considerations
Now before you dive into
@nansen_ai to find similar opportunities, be aware of some considerations to get a better context about the data.
• CEX/DEX holdings: Top 100 (often) includes exchange wallets and LPs. When tokens die, Top 100 can increase from supply concentrating in dormant wallets, not new accumulation.
• Team unlocks: Sudden increases may be teams minting or unlocks (check CS vs FDV). If concentration rises from team unlocks rather than external buying, that's bearish.
• Smart contracts: Staking contracts and proxies can also appear in Top 100. Some stakings are flexible, while other contracts have a 7 day (or more) lockdown. Check what the addresses actually are.
• Cross-reference segments: Combine Top 100 with Smart Money netflows, Fund activity, and Top PnL traders. Multiple aligned signals increase conviction and the chances of catching your next runner.
• Market cap threshold: This whole approach doesn't work well for small MC's (sub $3-5M). At that size, high concentration usually means team holdings. Without transparent vesting/locks, this is risky.
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5⃣ Conclusion
Top 100 holder concentration is one of the strongest signals to monitor, but only when you understand the context.
Here's what most people miss: It's not just about how much the Top 100 hold. It's also about who they are and how they accumulated.
When you interpret the Top 100 correctly, it tells you who’s in control, when conviction builds, and where the next move probably will start.
Master it, together with the other market making segments, and you have my word you’ll consistently front-run the market 🤝