Who are crypto whales?
We often see comments like: “It’s all because of the whales” or “We should have watched out for the whales” on the Internet. By analogy with the marine world, it is easy to understand that this is something huge and important. But this is not enough to characterize crypto whales and their impact on the cryptocurrency ocean.
Crypto whales: who are they, and where can you find them?
Crypto whales are the biggest and most influential investors in the cryptocurrency world. In other words, these are people or groups of people who hold a significant amount of a particular token. As there is no specific designation and criteria (it is simpler with bitcoin whales. They have more than 1000 BTC in their wallet), crypto whales are usually considered to have a significant influence on the market. There are 4 categories of such “manipulators” of the market: hedge funds, project owners, large institutional investors, and investors who bought most of the tokens at the beginning of the project.
One of the essential elements of the crypto world is anonymity. This is a huge plus because not every holder of a large wallet is willing to reveal his/her identity. At the same time, anonymity has also played a bad role - it is difficult to determine the identity of a whale and track his/her actions. Many analytical platforms try to detect the correlation between addresses and people. Such resources should not be trusted entirely. But you can consider them a starting point to the truth. The main thing is to check the information on several resources at once.
The influence of whales on the market
There is a perception that the influence of whales is exclusively negative due to frequent and uncontrolled market manipulation. This is not entirely true. First of all, their actions cannot be aimed at destabilizing the market. However, their actions aim only at protecting personal interests and assets.
Supply and demand are the main factors that influence the price of a token. Consequently, the significant transactions that whales make have a huge, and not always positive, impact on the market. The more coins a single holder possesses, the greater his/her influence. If his/her assets are “frozen” and out of the market for a long time – the price of the remaining coins in circulation can rise. Therefore, the simultaneous sale of large assets can lead to a sharp drop in price. There is currently no working control scheme that will prevent such manipulation. This is the biggest danger of crypto whales
Is it worth “hunting” the whale?
Definitely, you need to monitor the actions of the major market players. Understanding and observing the whale’s actions will help you make the right purchase (buy a coin at a low price), or vice versa – not to make a sale. But the actions of such players should not be the main factor in your decision-making. The best strategy is to keep an eye on the market as a whole rather than focusing only on the whales.
How to find the whales?
Some funds have become known openly: Bitcoins Reserve, Fortress, Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund, Binary Financial, etc. Much information about whales like Satoshi Nakamoto, the Winklevoss brothers, Tim Draper, Barry Silbert, Vitalik Buterin, etc., has leaked onto the web.
Recall that various analytics platforms try to draw a parallel between a wallet and a specific fund or individual. Also, some services help track whale transactions. But, as we know, not all transactions, operations, and balances are publicly available.
The main signs of a whale’s actions:
- A spike in price. It is worth understanding that this is not just a change in value, but a real surge, which is not supported by any information or has no justification. In this case, you can assume that the whale acts on the market. And the price can fall just as dramatically.
- Increase in the volume of purchases compared to the volume of sales. Basically, its value is 50/50. With the whale’s appearance on the market, the purchase volume may grow by 75-90%.
- An increase in volatility during a quiet period. When a coin, for an extended period, was traded only in a narrow range, and then the situation abruptly changed, it indicates whale manipulation.
- A sharp increase in trading volume. Meaning a significant rise several times.
Conclusion
It is impossible to prevent the whales’ appearance at the market and control their actions. However, it can’t be said that their influence is highly negative for the market. Monitoring the activities of influential investors and the market will help you increase your assets. Keep abreast of the news.
