The phrase “crypto whale” is used by the cryptocurrency community to describe people or organizations who accumulate substantial quantities of cryptocurrencies. Briefly put, whales possess enough cryptocurrencies to have an impact on currency markets.
A Comprehensive Review on Crypto Whales – 2023
Because whales are enormous in comparison to the tiny fish in the Bitcoin ocean, major cryptocurrency holders are referred to as whales. According to BitInfoCharts, the top 100 wallets held more than 15% of all Bitcoin in June 2023, and four Bitcoin wallets held 2.81% of the total amount of Bitcoin in circulation.
The crypto community and investors keep a careful eye on these big accounts. If any of the top 100 wallets conduct transactions, Whale Alert makes a public announcement about it on its website and Twitter account.
Effect of a Whale on Liquidity
Due to their prominence as wallets and the concentration of money, particularly if it remains in an account untouched, whales can pose a risk to cryptocurrencies. Because there are fewer coins available, while coins are sitting in an account rather than being utilized, their liquidity decreases.
The Impact of a Whale on Prices
When they move a significant amount of cryptocurrencies in a single transaction, whales can potentially exacerbate price volatility. For instance, if a user attempts to exchange their Bitcoin for fiat currency and other market participants learn about the transaction, there is downward pressure on the price of Bitcoin due to the lack of liquidity and big transaction size. When whales sell, other investors become extremely vigilant, keeping an eye out for signs that they are dumping their assets.
The average quantity of a certain cryptocurrency that is deposited into exchanges, or the exchange inflow mean, is a common indicator that cryptocurrency investors keep an eye out for. If there are a lot of whales utilizing the exchange and the mean quantity of coins per transaction increases above 2.0, whales are likely to start dumping.
In addition to the inflow mean, another factor that affects pricing is the publicity surrounding a specific whale’s transaction. When transactions involving significant sums of cryptocurrency are made, the price of Bitcoin only reacts when Whale Alert tweets about them.
Why Should Crypto Whales Consider?
The largest investors in a coin can provide insight into the market’s potential direction by observing their buying and selling behavior. Crypto whales may be the founders or early backers of a cryptocurrency project and have insider knowledge about the project’s prospects. So keeping a careful eye on the buying and selling of tokens over time might reveal a project’s supporters’ level of faith.
Which Crypto Whales Are Some of the Most Well-Known?
There are numerous whales in the cryptocurrency market. Some people have names, and others have known addresses.
Satoshi Nakamoto
Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is believed to own one million BTC, or more than $26 billion, as of May 2023.
Brian Armstrong
In a tweet from November 2022, the CEO of Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, stated that as of May 2023, his company owned 2 million BTC worth $53 billion.
Michael Saylor
As executive chairman and a co-founder of MicroStrategy, he tweeted in October 2020 that his cryptocurrency holdings stood at 17,732 BTC ($476 million as of May 2023).
Chris Larsen
Larsen, a co-founder of many Silicon Valley computer businesses, is thought to own at least 5.19 billion XRP or 17 percent of Ripple. That would equal $2.4 billion at May 2023 rates.
Changpeng Zhao
CZ, the CEO of Binance, is a well-known crypto whale who holds Bitcoin and Binance coins for 95% of his wealth. However, the crypto crisis caused Zhao’s net worth, which was estimated at $65 billion in March 2022, to drop to $4.5 billion in December 2022.
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