How Do Crypto Whale Trackers Work? – A Detailed Guide 2023

Volatility in the crypto space has been a significant issue for quite a while now, and it still continues to linger around often, not only effecting price valuations, but also the confidence of new traders and projects that are trying to make something out of their dedication, giving precious time and doing hard work. However, volatility can be seen in both a positive and a negative perspective, mainly depending upon the decisions made by entities operating in the market.

While volatility can be a negative for some, there are also times when volatility provides a breakthrough for traders that are always keeping an eye on the market in order to catch profits. This is where huge investors come into play, referred to as “Whales”, which is our topic in discussion. When these investors make large transactions, a shift in price valuation occurs, thus contributing to the volatility factor in the space, allowing seekers to make their moves and receive a gain out of it.

Now that you have a clear background about the topic, this article will now discuss in detail about crypto whales and how their activities can make an impact on the overall crypto space.

About Crypto Whales

Hoarding currency is a technique that has been used for decades, and now this technique has also crawled its way into the crypto space. Majority of the different types of cryptocurrencies in the space have what are called big asset holders or “whales”, commonly understood as big investors that have heavily focused on a crypto asset and can cause a significant shift in the asset’s price valuation.

So, it is important that traders in the space keep a close eye on them in order for them to get a better idea about market operations. Crypto whales can be either a single personality or a full company that generally have 10% or more of a crypto asset clenched in their fists.

Taking a look at an example, highly popular MicroStrategy organization has a Bitcoin holding of around 130,000 units, making them a very recognized Bitcoin whale, meaning that any activity from them in regard to Bitcoin can bring a significant change in the overall price valuation of the asset. Those who keep a close eye on whales like these can have an advantage over others in terms of asset pricing trends, giving them the opportunity to act accordingly and profit out of it.

As previously mentioned, traditional markets also have whales present. For example, if billionaire Warren Buffet decides to take a particular stance in regard to an asset that he is a whale of, it can either bring the price of that asset up or down, depending upon the decision made, especially when whales decide to sell.

Now, in terms of the cryptocurrency space, because each and every single transaction is recorded on the blockchain and is available for view, it makes it much easier to pursue activities of crypto whales, mainly by keeping a close eye their wallets, which can provide information about an assets price trend, thereby giving pursuers a chance to act accordingly before any significant price move occurs. 

There are many personalities and companies around the world that are considered to be large whales due to their impressive cryptocurrency holdings. Popular companies and figures include founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin, MicroStrategy with 130,000 Bitcoin, CEO of Coinbase exchange Brain Armstrong, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Elon Musk with around 33,000 Bitcoin, CEO of Binance exchange Changpeng Zhao and many others. 

Crypto Whale Influence

Crypto whales can either have a major positive or a negative impact on the price valuations of respective cryptocurrencies that they hold. There are two types of influences that a crypto whale can bring.

• Influence over Liquidity

Crypto whale accounts can have a major effect on the potential liquidity of an asset. Because of their influence level, if whale accounts have assets sitting ducks and are not being utilized, it means that there are lesser number of coins circulating around the space, hence having a negative effect on liquidity of those assets. 

• Influence over Price Valuations

Crypto whales are often likely to transfer large amounts of assets in a single go, which means that they can cause assets to become volatile. For instance, a crypto whale is looking to exchange their Ethereum holdings for traditional currency, because of the downfall in liquidity levels and the huge number of assets being transferred, it generates a sort of downward pressure on Ethereum’s price valuation.

If a whale has decided to make a move, investors become alerted and plan accordingly. One of the keyways investors can understand trends is by watching exchange inflows. This is basically a value that signifies how much of an asset is moving into the exchange. In the case where this value increases to 2.0 or more, it signifies that a whale activity is likely to be occurring. This is also referred to as asset “dumping”. 

An investor’s perspective

There can be many reasons to why a crypto whale decides to make huge transfers. The thing to understand is that if a crypto whale has decided to make a move, it should not always be viewed as a dump, as they could have others motives like switching wallets or buying more.

Another concept to understand is market distortion. This concept mainly involves an asset that is experiencing sudden changes in valuation. This happens when whales perform small moves in an extended period of time, so that they can avoid bring watched over. It is the reason to why traders in the space have a close eye on whale accounts, so that they have a better idea about the motives behind the whale movements. 

Being in the position of an investor in the crypto space, it is important that you keep an eye on whale activity, so that you can make better decisions and gain out of it. Looking at the examples from the previous sections, majority of the personalities and companies considered as whales are usually related to businesses, so they are practically gold mines.  If a whale does make a movement, just remain calm and try to assess the situation properly before making any big moves yourself.

Trialing Crypto Whales

Dedicated players in the market always have a close eye, not only on crypto wallets, but also inflow and outflow values of different popular crypto exchanges operating around the world.

If highly valued cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum experience big inflow movements in exchanges, it means that there could be a rise in selling, leading to a significant drop in price valuation of those assets and if there are big outflow movements, then more buying will occur, increasing the price valuation of the assets respectively.

The reason for this surrounds the supply factor. A greater outflow signifies that the supply is scarce, swelling the price valuation and consequently, a greater inflow means that the supply is high, thus dropping the price valuation. There are often times when whales like to purchase large amounts of cryptocurrencies from exchanges and then proceed to transfer all of them onto their private wallets. This can lead to a rise in price valuation of those cryptocurrencies in movement.

In other cases, whales can cause disturbances in the markets through exchange transactions. What they do is that they perform what is called an Over The Counter (OTC) exchange that happens between wallets. To better understand this, suppose a whale has transferred Ethereum to a wallet that returns back USDC, this lets the whale sell Ethereum with a minor trace which the market is unable to figure out easily.

As per transparency standards of blockchain technology, investors are not only able to investigate the transfer, but can also gain information about the wallets that were exchanging. If any of the wallets have a big number of cryptocurrencies stored, it means that they can highlight those wallets being owned by crypto whales. After they can keep a close eye over the activities that these wallets make for them to have a better idea on potential market trends.

Trailing such types of wallets can be very advantageous especially in the perspective of a Non-fungible token (NFT) trader. Many popular NFT development firms have a lot of personalities that are massively engaged with them, having large numbers in their grasp. NFT traders can trail the wallets of these personalities and make better moves for the future.

Diving into another example, suppose a whale highly engaged with an NFT collection has made a big move by buying a massive portion of that NFT collection. This can attract many other traders in the market that are fans of that whale to try to acquire NFT from that collection, thereby increasing its value more. There have been many instances where whales have made large purchases in the NFT market, thereby changing trends here and there.

While all this may sound very fun, constantly trailing a single or multiple wallets can be quite exhausting and takes a lot of dedication, especially in terms of time. To make whale trailing more convenient, there are different trailing tools that have been developed by entities in the market, helping whale trailers have an easier life. The coming sections discuss methods of trailing in more detail.

Different ways to trail Crypto Whales

There are multiple different ways through which anyone can trail crypto whales. Below mentioned are three ways, however the fourth method is discussed in the next section of this guide.

• Oh-Chain Inspection

This is mainly done by inspecting movement directly on the blockchain. The way this is done is by gaining information about the size of the transaction, the block associated with it and the wallet addresses that have engaged. The higher the size of the block means that a large exchange has been performed, hence it must be through a wallet which belongs to a crypto whale. If you are able to figure out the whale wallet, then you can trail it.

• Transactions between Wallets and Exchanges

This is usually done if crypto whales transfer assets onto a crypto exchange wallet, having an intent to trade them. The crypto and the number of assets being shifted can have either a positive or negative effect on the price valuation of those assets. The thing to look out for is that if the crypto used has a good position in the market, it can be useful and if the asset is highly volatile, it indicates a dump.

• Transactions between Wallets

This method involves tracking exchanges done directly from one wallet to another. Although this type of transfer is not considered to have any effect on the market, but it can mean that the crypto whale is up to something and could make another move to watch out for.

Pursuing Whales using tools

As mentioned in the previous section, with the growth of the crypto industry, whale trailing has also seen a massive rise, so some entities in the community have taken the opportunity to develop and build tools in order to trail out activities from crypto whale accounts much faster and in a more convenient manner, saving a lot of time.

In addition to that, many of these tools also provide analytical data surrounding the wallets in focus and alert the traders to any upcoming change in trend, just in time for the traders to act accordingly and maintain their gains. Due to the nature of blockchain technology, transactions can be easily traced down by these tools, providing better and much faster insight on their activities. Here are a few advantages and disadvantages that are associated with the usage of such analytical tools.  

Advantages

1. The tool is automated, meaning that you can save your precious time looking at other opportunities to grasp onto, because the software is doing the work.
2. There are some market trend indications that you might not notice yourself, but the tool can, so the quicker notice you have, the timelier decision you can make, allowing you to either purchase or dump at the right time.
3. Most of the tools to trailing in real time, thus being very quick.
4. The tools provide detailed analytical data in graphical form, which allows users to easily view and get a grasp of the market position, thereby contributing to the speed factor.

Disadvantages

1. There tools can be quite attractive, so if you spend your whole time on them, then you might slip out on other opportunities that are hovering in the space. Although whales might have significant effect on the market, but it does not mean that only they can bring significant changes.
2. Because whales are rich in assets, they can take certain risks that normal traders cannot, so it is important not to focus on them too much, because if you make a foolish decision, then the consequences can hurt a lot more than you think.
3. Although majority of these tools carry very minimal charges, these charges can significantly add over time, as going deeper generates more charges, sometimes reaching absurd values.

Current best Whale pursuing tools

Below mentioned are the five top tools that are popular for trailing crypto whales.

• Blockchain Explorer

Blockchain Explorer is a highly efficient and reliable tool that trails whales. It not only provides real-time data, but also has a friendly user-interface. One downside is that this tool only supports the most popular whale wallets.

• Whale Alert

Whale Alert is a tool that has support for many popular blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The good thing about this tool is that it is free to use, however if you want additional services like alerts and higher transactional value tracking, carries additional charges.

• Clank

This tool is excellent for new players. It is not only free, but also supports around 24 popular blockchains. You can also follow their socials to receive alerts. Donations can be made to support the tool.

• Whale Map

Whale Map is another tool which is also free of cost, however it has a high learning curve which needs to be given time. It has a whole library of courses which can be helpful for new players.

• Whale Watcher

Whale Watcher is another excellent whale trailing solution, but most of its beneficial features are included in a paid membership, but it does have some free services. Whale watcher is a great option for NFT traders.

Final Thoughts

Crypto whales are sometimes seen to bring huge impacts on the price valuations of assets, so it is important for traders to keep an eye on their activities. Receiving information on time means that you can make decisions accordingly before the market shifts, either saving you from loss, or generating you profits. This process is also made easier because of the nature of blockchain technology that has a record of all transactions and can be viewed by anyone.

Making this process easier are special tools that have been designed and developed to trail out crypto whales and provide their users with the perfect utility they need to act fast. Although this can be beneficial, it is advised not to dive too deep into this opportunity, as it can become expensive, take a lot of your precious time and pull the curtains on other potential opportunities. Hopefully this guide has helped you in understanding about crypto whales and how their activities can shift markets.

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