What to do with whales?

[DaveF]

The bitcoin rich list point to 2.151 addresses holding 41,83% of BTCs:
https://bitinfocharts.com/top-100-richest-bitcoin-addresses.html

The big question with a lot of those is how many are long term cold storage for exchanges that took some steps to make sure that they could not be traced.
Not for any other reason then it's none of anyone's business.
I could see Binance / Bitfinex / OKEX and many others having a lot of BTC in known public addresses and a lot more in unknown ones.

Keeps things a bit more secure.

-Dave

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[v3liana]

I think the only way to deal with Whales is HODL. Hold on for dear life. If you don't think you will profit more by holding on, just look at the price from the beginning. As you can see, your investment grows over time. But HODL is very hard to do it especially for new comers.

[pjwaffle]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

The Whales control the entire ecosystem of cryptocurrencies. They can make a huge impact for dumping or pumping. such as BTC whales have been sleeping for a while in their BTC wallets but one day it moves all the BTC out and sells it for a huge amount that will cause the whole market to panic before the price crash sudden drop, so that's why I think the whale is the key point of the electronic market because it determines everything about the price going up as well as the price going down.

[The Cryptovator]

In short words nothing, we can do. A major part of Bitcoin holding by whales does not mean that market becomes centralized. Yes, it is true that they can manipulate the prices sometimes, not always. If they can manipulate always then it shouldn't dump anymore, because whales will try to keep it up always since they are holding a major part of the Bitcoin. They can sell it at a higher price. I know that they could accumulate more during the dump, and they are doing as well. But to be honest, you have nothing to do with them. What you can do, just follow the trend of whales, so you will get some advantage from the volatility. Any other action cannot help to fight with whales.

[Sollaes]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

I don't think that 40% in hands of 1000 people is a sign of centralisation. Moreover, everybody know that Bitcoin is the most decentralised one. But actually, whales on crypto market is a real problem as if we are talking about small market cap coins, they are really subjected to impact of whales that can pump or dump the price very easily and nobody can deter them.

[Darker45]

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

First and foremost, to be clear, this is about centralization of Bitcoin as a native currency and not of Bitcoin as a network itself. Bitcoin as network remains decentralized whether the large bulk of BTC are in the hands of a few or well-distributed across the community.

As to what we can do to the current status, I don't think there's something we can do about it. But there is definitely a way for things not to get worse. I guess it helps that retail Bitcoin investors be properly educated of the potential of Bitcoin itself. If they remain as mere speculators, as pure Bitcoin investors who are only after the money they could gain from its price appreciation, they are more likely to sell upon profit. In which case, they are most likely selling to the whales who are acquiring and acquiring without selling. This is the reason why Bitcoin is focused on them. It is not only the fact that they can afford.

But if small-time owners of Bitcoin learn to HODL in good days and bad, this centralization wouldn't become worse. Furthermore, if Bitcoin consciousness becomes more widespread and new retail Bitcoin owners would begin to stack Sats little by little instead of selling, this situation wouldn't get better.

In the long run, however, a stronger demand will neutralize the impact of whales suddenly selling in bulk.

[famososMuertos]

It is actually a fact to take into account, but it should not be binding not for you or for anyone who has just arrived at bitcoin.

You Understand me the point!! it's like you just do your thing, You get to be on bitcoin in the version that is: BTC units for some or satoshis for others, oscourse it not change the current holding percentages and it will not even prevent the list of large holders bitcoin changes, but we have to be present in the holding regardless of the amount, and that's the first thing.

[syedakhlaque]

Whales are the uniqueness of this business. These cannot be controlled by anyone. This is due to large-scale selling or purchasing of bitcoin. These are the ups and downs known as jumping dumping also. This act also can be seen in different stock markets but not as it is in the crypto market. Bitcoin is the father of all coins. So it's rising and falling affect all sub coins in the market. Sometimes whale is unexpected and some traders or stalkers gain and some get lost.

[Shenzou]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

Sure that this raise the question of whether they are able to manipulate the market or not, but you have to take in consideration that these people who own 40% are not gonna someday agree on dumping their whole cap which will actually affect the market significantly, and even if one of them does people are not so influenced by drops that much anymore, the panic selling is just an old idea that is based on bitcoin not being a known assets that is always being at risk, bit now with crypto and bitcoin as a solid market that all major investors have part in it this won't affect it that much.

[KennyR]

In short words nothing, we can do. A major part of Bitcoin holding by whales does not mean that market becomes centralized. Yes, it is true that they can manipulate the prices sometimes, not always. If they can manipulate always then it shouldn't dump anymore, because whales will try to keep it up always since they are holding a major part of the Bitcoin. They can sell it at a higher price. I know that they could accumulate more during the dump, and they are doing as well. But to be honest, you have nothing to do with them. What you can do, just follow the trend of whales, so you will get some advantage from the volatility. Any other action cannot help to fight with whales.

Just the Whales in the market will try to make changes in the trend. What we can do as a common holder is to follow the trend and make some profit. Whenever there is market manipulation from the whales automatically there'll be large scale fluctuation. Most of the time people panic when there is crash caused by the whales. Holders should not panic, but plan better to make some profit through it.

[UmerIdrees]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

The whales dump the bitcoin but they later buy it back at cheap prices. We need to think in thier ways.when price is pumping, there is no need to buy the coins and wait for the dump to buy.

Retail just do the opposite, they buy at high and become panic when prices are lower. If you are able to buy and sell with the whales, you will also make a lot of profit.

[leea-1334]

I think the only way to deal with Whales is HODL. Hold on for dear life.

You cannot deal with whales,,, that is the reason you and me are both here on this forum, talking about whales. Whales have no time to even be here, to even talk on social media, they are doing BTC on the side or have others working for them. We cannot even imagine life as a whale.

But on the plus side,,, we are the real users and the whales need us to keep the network active and strong.

So do not just HODL. USE 

[pinggoki]

The power still resides over the people. They wouldn't just dump it off and jump ship unless they got replaced by apes in human's clothing. It is us who will decide whether bitcoin is still valuable or not, and when we deem it as not worthy of the time and the effort we put in, our cumulative cashouts would simply overwhelm their efforts and bitcoin would be back to nothing but a cryptocurrency with an ambiguous use-case. Rest assured that as investors of bitcoin, as long as the cryptocurrency doesn't become centralized, we're good.

In short words nothing, we can do. A major part of Bitcoin holding by whales does not mean that market becomes centralized. Yes, it is true that they can manipulate the prices sometimes, not always. If they can manipulate always then it shouldn't dump anymore, because whales will try to keep it up always since they are holding a major part of the Bitcoin. They can sell it at a higher price. I know that they could accumulate more during the dump, and they are doing as well. But to be honest, you have nothing to do with them. What you can do, just follow the trend of whales, so you will get some advantage from the volatility. Any other action cannot help to fight with whales.

not entirely true, we could do something about the situation because it's not like they have full agency over the cryptocurrency itself. In my book we are still the ones who control the price and fluctuations. Following the whale trend would just make the matters worst because that is utter submission against an overwhelming force when as a community we outnumber them. And it's not like these people will all of a sudden drop the price of bitcoin just for the lols. We do not know what their motives are but we can safely assume that as the prime figure within this industry, they will be responsible in keeping it alive.

[kryptqnick]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

Is the first sentence backed with evidence? It might be that you're talking about 1000 wallets, but wallets don't equal individuals. Many wallets belong to companies that invest in Bitcoin, and there are also some very rich wallets that belong to crypto exchanges. So measuring how centralized ownership truly is can be problematic. Also, to make big impact on the market, these entities would need to conspire together, and that's unlikely when they are from various industries and when there are tons of wallets there whose owners aren't known at all. Furthermore, big orders often happen OTC, so they don't really affect the price (unless FUD appears in the media, of course), so it's not that big of an issue, IMO.

[NeuroticFish]

Is the first sentence backed with evidence?

It was shown in another post that the numbers are not correct since they contain exchanges' cold wallets, which is not something to be counted as whales.
So... yeah, the calculations are already incorrect. Then you're right about address/wallet relationship and the fact it can also distort the results greatly.

...I start to think that the topic may have been opened only to create a bit of uncertainty amongst bitcoiners.

[masterrex]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

IMHO, I guess those so-called 1000 individuals who own the 40 percent of Bitcoin total supply are already rich and don't want to dump or sell their Bitcoin holdings, that's why the price of BTC is on the rise and if those whales want to liquidate their asset I believe they will not dump it at once and if that happens the market is ready for them.

[GatotKaca]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

IMHO, I guess those so-called 1000 individuals who own the 40 percent of Bitcoin total supply are already rich and don't want to dump or sell their Bitcoin holdings, that's why the price of BTC is on the rise and if those whales want to liquidate their asset I believe they will not dump it at once and if that happens the market is ready for them.

the growth of bitcoin in the market is very good. those with the most bitcoin holdings of course will not sell it just like that because the current price is already expensive.
not because I think they are already rich, but because those who have long-held beliefs hold it with full confidence, I'm sure they are not thinking about the current problem, the price is already expensive.
they know bitcoin will be more expensive and more functional in the future.

[ultrloa]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

This is not to mention the high proportion of bitcoins held by miners and exchanges, who may have perverse incentives to ensure that as many people buy up bitcoin as possible and hold it for long enough for the price to rise.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

Are you afraid with manipulation? If yes then learn how to take action on what will be the possible outcome if those whales move. But there's nothing to worry about those holdings since for sure not all of them will manipulate the bitcoin and for sure each one of them have separate takes between their holdings and all of them is believer or maximalist which doesn't want that bitcoin will dump more than we can't expect.

[stompix]

What to do with whales?

Bring the pitchforks harpoons and get rid of all those kulaks whales!
How dear they have more coins than the average bitcoiner!

We should immediately set up an organization that would be in charge of fixing the number of coins one should have, the amount which he can sell in a 30 days period, and also a blacklist of persons who shouldn't be allowed to own bitcoin and be banned from the system
I nominate Yellen, Elizabeth Warren, Musk, Nikola Tesla, Iosif Vissarionovici, and Ogodei as supreme leaders of this supreme authority!

Since we know that amongst the top richest addresses there are massive Exchange addresses, and that the percentage shown in those articles is nearly the same as the 41,83% I mentioned above, the articles (or their source) may have taken into their calculus the addresses of Exchanges, which would be incorrect.

Regardless, large whales surely have capacity to move things at their will, especially if they can find a fundamental that acts as a catalyst to boost their efforts. Certainly not ideal, and all you can do is buy some of them and hope that many do. The likeliness nevertheless is that weak hands will keep on caving-in into their strategy …

I remember Glassnode saying that the amount stored on exchanges dropped to the lowest in years below the 2 million mark, so we could drop those from the total number but at the same time, nobody knows where a lot of whales hold their coins. For example, the Inverspellitright Winklevoss brothers held 100k coins but nobody ever correctly identified all their addresses years same for Grayscale, it's possible all those funds are hidden in addresses with under 100 in balance if not less.

[DannyHamilton]

40% of all Bitcoins are owned by just 1000 individuals.

Prove it.

Where did you get this statistic from?

This gives them a disproportionate amount of control over the market as they are able to dump them at anytime.

Only until they do dump it. Then they won't have it anymore, since they dumped it.

Is there any way to deal with the high degree of centralisation that Bitcoin has?

Bitcoin is decentralized.

Are you talking about the wealth gap?  That's a political and societal issue, not a currency issue.  There won't ever be a currency that solves that problem.