Table of Contents
There are different types of crypto investors, and a crypto whale is a part of it. In this article, we’ll be discussing all you need to know about a crypto whale.
What is a Crypto Whale?
A crypto whale is a popular cryptocurrency term that refers to people, blockchain wallets, or companies who own large amounts of cryptocurrency. A crypto whale holds enough crypto that they have the power to manipulate currency valuations potentially.
There is a classification table on categorizing the whales versus other types of crypto investors. A shrimp is someone with less than 1 Bitcoin in their wallet, a crab is someone with 1 to 10 Bitcoin, an octopus is someone with 10 to 50 Bitcoin, a fish is someone with 50 to 100 Bitcoin, a dolphin is someone with 100 to 500 Bitcoin, a shark is someone with 500 to 1000 BTC, a whale is someone with more than 1000 BTC, and a humpback is someone with greater than 5000 BTC.
Who Are The Bitcoin Whales?
1. Satoshi Nakamoto:
It’s no surprise that the man who created the Bitcoin is number one on the list with approximately one million Bitcoin. Satoshi has remained silent since he left the Bitcoin community abruptly in 2011. The mysterious Bitcoin creator has managed to stay anonymous for this long. People are not even sure if Satoshi Nakamoto is one person, a group of people, or even if that’s a real name.
2. Micree Zhan:
He is the Co-Founder of Bitmain Technologies, a Bitcoin mining company. Currently living in Beijing, Micree Zhan is said to own the second most enormous wealth of Bitcoin.
Zhan is the 9th richest self-made billionaire under 40 and the wealthiest cryptocurrency billionaire with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion.
3. Chris Larsen:
Chris Larsen is the founder and former CEO of Ripple. He is one of the early pioneers of crypto, and the second confirmed wealthiest Bitcoin billionaire. Although he has his recent criticisms of the crypto industry, Chris Larsen is estimated to be the wealthiest person to build his entire fortune on crypto. His net worth is estimated to be over $6 billion.
4. Changpeng Zhao:
Changpeng Zhao founded Binance in 2017 after spending years working on Wall Street.
In the crypto world, Zhao continues to be a thought leader, with his cryptocurrency becoming the third biggest in the world. It is estimated that Zhao has a net worth of $1.9 billion, primarily derived from the use of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.
How Do You Become a Crypto Whale?
The only way to become a crypto whale is by accumulating and stacking your crypto coins. You should get started sooner rather than later on this journey because it takes time. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are great to accumulate during market crashes, for example.
How Do Crypto Whales Manipulate Crypto
Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, saw Ether’s value drop from US$1,628 to US$700 in a minute in February 2021. Although numerous factors could have contributed to it, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell felt that it was a crypto whale that “decided to dump his life savings”, therefore, resulting in the plunge. Because crypto whales hold so much cryptocurrency, their movements can manipulate the token’s value in massive ways. Also, because they have more funds at stake, they possess more voting power.
Conclusion
As earlier said, crypto whales are people, blockchain wallets, and companies that own a large sum of cryptocurrency. Crypto whales are very influential in the market as they play a significant role in the price and value of crypto coins in bull and bear markets.
