What is your definition of a whale? How many BTCs do you need to have to be a whale?
The term “whale” is frequently used to describe the big money Bitcoin players that show their hand in the Bitcoin market. The ocean as a metaphor for the market is apt, since one can then extend it to include the big fish and the small fish; sharks; rallies as feeding frenzies; waves as market moves; and so forth. It may be, however, that the term “whale” has been applied to the wrong class of investor because the players described below are truly the biggest creatures in the ocean.
***BITCOIN DOLPHINS
They show themselves in the exchanges with orders of 1000 BTC, every now and again, and the common perception seems to be that the orderbook “whales” are the heavyweight players who move the market and can manipulate price if they so desire. However, this view is inaccurate.
The fact is that there are even bigger players than the so-called whales, who do not engage in the Bitcoin market via the dinky web interfaces the exchanges offer us, the “retail market” (small fish).
*** BITCOIN WHALES
bitcoin whaleThe large players being referred to are institutions such as Hedge Funds and Bitcoin Investment Funds. Some of these funds have announced their presence in the water:
+ Pantera Capital
+ Bitcoins Reserve
+ Binary Financial
+ Coin Capital Partners
+ Falcon Global Capital
+ Fortress
+ Bitcoin Investment Trust
+ Global Advisors Bitcoin Investment Fund
Others have yet to put oar to water…
+ Bitcoin Index Fund
… and others may or may not exist, depending on your sources and the reach of your sonar.
These funds typically manage 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.
With their large capital mass, institutions can move the market at will. It is here where the metaphor of a Bitcoin Whale comes into its own because any other inhabitant of the ocean must simply get out of the way, or be moved forcefully. Additionally, no current is strong enough to deflect the whale from its course, so its intention becomes the way.