What are Bitcoin whales and how to identify them?

Follow the tracks of Bitcoin whales: track their tactics, from manipulation to stop-loss hunting, and explore their impact on the market to navigate cryptocurrency trading.

What are Bitcoin whales?

Bitcoin whales are individuals or organizations with significant holdings of Bitcoin $BTC

that have the ability to influence the market through their trading tactics.

The term "Bitcoin whale" is colloquially used to denote a holder with a significant stake compared to smaller participants, often referred to as "smaller fish" within the market. The owner of the wallet or set of wallets controlled by an entity can be an individual or a group that is pooling funds to make large investments.

Their vast holdings have been accumulated through mining, early investments, and other methods. Whales have access to significant holdings of Bitcoin, giving them the power to manipulate the market by making large purchases or sales of assets that trigger price fluctuations. The abundance of whales and extreme volatility are often linked in the cryptocurrency space.

How much money turns a cryptocurrency holder into a Bitcoin whale?

An individual or organization is considered a "Bitcoin whale" if they hold a significant amount of Bitcoin; however, the threshold for this classification is not set. The widely recognized benchmark for being considered a Bitcoin whale is set at 1,000 BTC. This threshold is commonly cited by cryptocurrency analysis firms such as Glassnode when identifying network entities (sets of addresses) with a minimum of 1,000 Bitcoin.