[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Holdings by large Dogecoin whales hit an all-time high in late April, and expectations for further gains in May are growing as prices rebound.

Cointelegraph reported on May 1 that Dogecoin rose about 18 percent over the past month, outpacing the broader crypto market’s 10 percent gain. Its price has rebounded 23.5 percent since mid-April. The market sees accumulation by large holders as supporting the uptrend.

Data compiled by on-chain data firm Santiment showed wallets holding at least 100 million DOGE held a total of 108.52 billion DOGE as of late April. That is up from below 107.95 billion DOGE in mid-April and is worth about $11.6 billion.

Large transactions also increased. Santiment counted 739 Dogecoin transfers above $100,000 on April 28 alone. The spike coincided with the launch on German electronic trading platform Xetra of a physically backed Dogecoin exchange-traded product (ETP) by 21Shares.

On charts, Dogecoin is also attempting a breakout from a zone that appears to form a descending triangle. In traditional technical analysis, a descending triangle is interpreted as a pattern of continued selling pressure, but when accompanied by accumulation it can also lead to an upside breakout.

A similar pattern appeared in bitcoin in 2021. After China’s crackdown on mining, bitcoin formed a descending triangle for several months, then broke above a trend line near $35,000 and later rose above $52,000 with a short squeeze. Applying the same technical yardstick to Dogecoin suggests an upper target of about $0.131 in May. That is about 20 percent above the current price and also aligns with the 200-week simple moving average.

That price range is also meaningful on an on-chain cost basis. The average acquisition price for wallets holding at least 10,000 DOGE is currently estimated at about $0.115, and the aggregate cost basis line for all holders is formed near about $0.132. If Dogecoin regains the $0.131 to $0.132 zone, it would also move above the breakeven level for major holders.

In the past, rallies tended to last longer when prices moved back above those cost zones. That is because selling pressure tends to ease when more holders return to profit. The market is therefore focusing less on the short-term rebound itself and more on whether Dogecoin can recover both key cost zones and long-term moving averages.

Still, the bullish scenario is not confirmed. If prices are blocked by resistance at the 20-week exponential moving average, the breakout signal could weaken. In that case, Dogecoin could still retest a recent low around $0.088 in May.

As a result, the key variable for Dogecoin in May is whether whale accumulation and breakout attempts lead to an actual trend reversal or end as a temporary rebound near resistance.

On-chain data indicates that Dogecoin's whales have just hit a 6-month high in activity, with 739 $100K+ transfers in just a 1-day span. Additionally, of the 149 whale wallets holding at least 100M Dogecoin, they now collectively hold an all-time high of 108.52B $DOGE (worth… pic.twitter.com/AMaoxT97w1