Of Whales and Dolphins
Mar 20, 2019
You may have heard of their existence before, but the cryptocurrency world has its own share of whales, dolphins and…, some other fish. If they haven’t been yet detected on your sonar, then maybe it is about time to learn all about these cryptocurrency holders.
In the crypto scene, “whales” and “dolphins” are terms used to describe bitcoin or other crypto wallets, addresses or holders that hold significant amounts of crypto coins or tokens. The ocean represents the crypto market, home to different fish, big or small, and which cause their own small or big waves, affecting the market and feeding the news.
What is a whale?
A whale in cryptocurrency is a metaphor for the big money holders, the biggest fish in the sea of cryptos. They are the ones who can arguably move the market and manipulate prices. With large amounts of crypto capital, whales are institutions such as hedge funds and bitcoin investment funds which can move the market: Pantera Capital, Bitcoins Reserve, Binary Financial, Bitcoin Investment Trust, Coin Capital Partners, Falcon Global Capital, Fortress and Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund.
For example, Bitcoin whales are not your usual suspects trading 1000 BTC on crypto exchanges, something that would be the characteristic of Bitcoin dolphins. Whales are not found on exchanges or the small fish (the retail market).
Instead, they are investors and funds with “hundreds of thousands of bitcoins, which they strategically and covertly put through the exchanges via special arrangement – out of sight and obscured from regular retail traders.”
Dolphin
A person who has evolved from being a fish and who owns a considerable quantity of cryptocurrency, but much less than a whale.
If you are wondering where you rank in terms of your bitcoin, there are a couple of fish hierarchies out there, placing you according to how many bitcoins you hold. For example, you could be anything from a plankton to a Satoshi Nakamoto or a Humpback Whale, depending on which forums you hang out.