Whales are entities—individuals, institutions and exchanges—that hold significant amounts of tokens of a particular cryptocurrency. But, why are these investors considered whales? Because of their ability to impact the cryptocurrency price. Whales create waves that cause a ripple effect among small fishes, or traders, thus influencing the overall market.
There is no exact cutoff threshold for this definition, but some say a Bitcoin whale should hold at least 1,000 BTC.
So, in a few words whales have the power to move the markets up and down. Some examples of well-known whales include Pantera Capital and Fortress Investment Group. Another popular—yet widely speculated—whale is Satoshi Nakamoto, who is said to have mined over a million Bitcoins.
How do whales manipulate cryptocurrency?
Sometimes, a whale puts up a massive order to sell a huge chunk of their crypto tokens. They keep the price lower than other sell orders. That causes volatility, resulting in the general reduction of prices of the cryptocurrency coins. This is followed by a chain reaction where people panic and start selling their tokens at a cheaper price too. Thanks to that, whales are able to buy more coins at a lower price, thus achieving more power.
Contrary to the “sell wall” effect, whales often artificially inflate the prices of the tokens by putting in huge buy orders. They create a desire for the cryptocurrency tokens, thus urging people to raise their bids. In doing so, they also catch the attention of other investors who fear missing out on a great, profitable deal. Investors feel that as the demand for the token has gone up, they should also get a piece of it. This way, whales are able to sell some of their tokens for a decent profit.
Who Owns The Most Bitcoin?
With more than 1,000,000 BTC, Nakamoto — who may be an individual or a group — owns more Bitcoin than any other entity. The four remaining billionaires are estimated to hold around 672,000 BTC altogether.
These addresses are mainly located at two crypto exchanges (Bitfinex and Binance), with the third and fourth at an unknown location.
These addresses are:
34xp4vRoCGJym3xR7yCVPFHoCNxv4Twseo : 265,480 BTC
Bc1qgdjqv0av3q56jvd82tkdjpy7gdp9ut8tlqmgrpmv24sq90ecnvqqjwvw97: 168,010 BTC
1P5ZEDWTKTFGxQjZphgWPQUpe554WKDfHQ: 121,397 BTC
3LYJfcfHPXYJreMsASk2jkn69LWEYKzexb: 116,601 BTC