Shiba Inu (SHIB) whales appear to be in a risk-off mode ahead of the pivotal U.S. inflation data, which is likely to show a renewed uptick due to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Major whale transactions exceeding $100,000 have crashed by 91.5% over the past four days, shifting market control from institutional to retail investors, according to CoinDesk's AI insights.

Prices, however, have raised bulls' hopes, topping key resistance at 0.0000133 with a massive 975 billion volume spike. The cryptocurrency has also moved above the widely-watched 100-day simple moving average (SMA).

Additionally, a record 1.5 million wallets now hold SHIB tokens, representing 0.011% of the global population, a sign of accelerated community growth.

Key technical insights

SHIB-USD pair climbed from 0.0000129 to 0.0000134, representing a 4.6% gain with a total range of 0.00000063 (4.9%).A significant volume spike of 975 billion in the final hour propelled prices to break through the 0.0000133 resistance level.Price action formed an ascending channel with higher lows at 0.0000129, 0.0000131, and 0.0000132.The 0.0000135 level now emerges as the next key resistance target for bulls to overcome.A strong bullish breakout occurred between 07:11-07:16, where the price surged from 0.0000133 to 0.0000135, representing a 1.5% gain.After reaching the session high, the price established a new support zone around 0.0000134, with multiple tests confirming this level.

Focus on U.S. inflation

According to FactSet, the median year-over-year estimate for the consumer price index for May is 2.5%, an increase from April's 2.3% rise.

If the data matches estimates, it will be the first increase in the number compared to the previous month since January 2025, validating the Federal Reserve's wait-and-see, data-dependent stance.

That said, the tariff-led upswing in inflation has been discussed in markets for some time, and the confirmation may not come as a shock to the market. In other words, dips could be short-lived.