In the world of digital cryptocurrencies, a so-called whale is a person or a company that owns a very huge amount of a certain cryptocurrency. Such major owners possess a quantity of a coin or token that their market transactions can possibly pose an impact on its price. The expression references whales being the biggest animals in the sea, similar to these investors being the largest in the crypto market.
Whales may be comprised of early birds who kept acquiring coins during the period of low prices, then these would be big institutional investors, hedge funds as well as crypto exchanges that take care of customer funds. On account of the blockchain’s transparency, these investors’ movements are therefore closely followed by the market analysts who identify the general sentiment by watching “whale wallets.” For instance, a whale’s transfer of a substantial quantity of either Bitcoin or Ethereum to a trading platform may give off a signal of selling intentions.
Moreover, on the other hand, whales can be the market stabilizers if they take the opposite route of holding considerable amounts for the long term, thus averting extreme price fluctuations. The trading activity or that of the whales is always the focus of traders and the media, as transfers of large amounts have the capacity of sparking massive buying or selling actions.
To put it simply, a crypto whale is any strong holder that gives a chance of seeing a noticeable change in the trend by mere holding of its huge assets.