A Whale is a currency trader or large investor with sizeable holdings of a particular cryptocurrency, who often also has a significant amount of capital invested in the cryptocurrency market as a whole and elsewhere.
Whales can be individuals, single businesses, cryptocurrency exchanges, or even institutions.
Whales tend to own a large percentage of the total supply of a given currency.
Because of this fact, trades made by whales tend to have a considerable short-term effect on price movements, especially for smaller altcoins, which are less liquid than say bitcoin or Ethereum.
Whales are often accused of manipulation because of their buying and selling power and ability to drive prices up and down with single trades.
Whales use artistically created buy walls and sell walls to manipulate traders by changing current market sentiment.
Traders should be aware of large buy walls and sell walls that appear quickly. They could be part of a whale’s manipulation strategy.
Keeping an eye on market depth can also help traders identify potential manipulation tactics of whales.
If market depth is low, whales will have an easier time influencing price with their walls.