Recently, there has been a lot of uncertainty and volatility in the world of cryptocurrency. In such times, and particularly during bearish trends, the best way to make sure that you are making the most out of your DeFi portfolio is to understand the market as it stands and make sound decisions accordingly.
And among the best and most effective ways of doing so is by tracking crypto whales and their investment trends. A prime example is how in July 2021, 18 new crypto whales came with an investment value totaling $3 billion in crypto (82,760 BTC). Their activities shaped the market quite a bit in the coming months.
Think of it like bird watching. You can follow the birds’ movements to understand different weather patterns – like they used to in the olden days – and prepare your house for an incoming storm or even for the winter.
In this article, we will consider how you can track crypto whales to understand crypto trends and even how they can impact the market with their behavior!
Why Track What Crypto Whales Are Purchasing
As mentioned above, crypto whale activity and understanding their investment trends can help you understand market movements and make smart decisions accordingly. Our ancestors used to apply the same principle to understand uncertain weather events via bird watching.
But before you get into how to track what crypto whales are purchasing, the common question is, why should you do so? What makes their investment trends so special, and who exactly are these “crypto whales?”
Understanding The Concept of Crypto Whales
The concept of crypto whales is very similar to what you can expect from stock market whales. These are individuals or groups who not only possess but also actively partake in an activity with a large number of a particular cryptocurrency. Initially, the concept was only applied to Bitcoin owners, but after a while, it started spreading to other currencies as well.
There is a minimum or maximum threshold for the value an investor must hold or manipulate in order to become a whale. For example, a person with just 0.1 BTC or 10 BNB may consider a person with 1 BTC or 100 BNB a whale.
However, generally, wallets with a portfolio of 1,000 BTC or more are considered to be whales—and there are more than 2,500 of these wallets. For altcoins, this figure is relatively higher. The idea is that as a whale, you would not only be printing money but also guiding others to do so.
Furthermore, because of the large portfolio, it is very likely that other investors will think of these whales as a shining star and follow their movements. This gives whales significant power over the governance and price increase or decrease of a number of tokens, platforms, and exchanges.
How to Track What Crypto Whales Are Purchasing
The first thing you need to do is to find and identify whales. To do so, you can start by:
- Monitoring high-value wallets by noting down their addresses. The trick is to find wallets that lead to some of the largest transactions or transactions that lead to major shifts in a given currency.
- Monitor order books or the chain itself. The thing about blockchain is that there is always an irrefutable, although untraceable record of the transactions. If you find that, out of the blue, there is a sudden shift in a currency, understand that there is a whale in play. Monitor the order books or the chain when that happens. You’ll have to do it several times to find out which wallet stands out.
- Monitoring large trades on different exchanges.
As you can imagine, doing all this manually can be a painstaking task, and the pay-off may not always be as lucrative. This is why people have come up with some very effective ways to track what crypto whales are purchasing.
1. The Traditional Route – Rely on Sites
There are several websites that allow you to track the movements of crypto whales, with one of the best ones being Watcher.Guru and WhaleStats. Of course, the website you choose is entirely subjective to the results you are looking for. These websites show the top 1,000 wallets that have the biggest portfolios and those that actively partake in trading activities. They also help you track whale movements and get regular updates on any whale sightings.
The websites also show the 24-hour performance history for whale activity and the average trends that you can expect because of their behavior.
2. Blockchain Explorers
Think of blockchain explorers as crypto search engines that help you gather a wide range of information pertaining to the blockchain. These explorers also help you track whales by helping you track wallet addresses. Of course, you need to know the address first before you “explore” them and their respective blocks.
The best way to do that is to find the largest transaction every day and try to determine if there are any trends associated with a specific wallet. Some examples of blockchain explorers include Blockchain.com, Blockcypher, and Tokenview.
3. Whale Alerts Notifications
There are many ways to track what crypto whales are purchasing. However, at the end of the day, the biggest question is whether or not the technique you choose will update you in time to make adjustments to your portfolio.
The goal is to make sure the notification service you choose gives you regular alerts and live updates about large transactions or changes made to and by the wallet(s) you have chosen to track. The same is true for any exchanges you are tracking.
You can choose to get notifications via Twitter or Telegram or be fed by bots (and program them to handle your portfolio accordingly) for real-time insights. Be very careful about assigning bots to your portfolio with respect to whales, though. What could be profitable for them may not always be profitable for you as well.
While they may be having fun, you may end up falling face-first out of the market!
Whale-Alert.io website and Twitter account, CryptocurrencyAlerting, and Etherscan.io are among the leading crypto whale alert services that you can go for.
Here is an example of how to track what crypto whales are purchasing on the Ethereum blockchain with the help of Etherscan.io.
- Start by visiting the etherscan.io/tokens site. You will find a list of tokens on the page reflecting the Ethereum blockchain.
- Select a token you like (any token will do for the sake of this example) and scroll down to the Holders section.
This section will give you a lot of information about who is holding how much of the selected currency.
- In the Quantity section, search for a wallet that has a large number of currencies to its name. The larger the value, the better. This may take some doing as there is no “sort by quantity” filter here.
- Copy the wallet address of the respective whale or block.
- Head on to CoinGecko and search for the wallet or the block.
- This will show you the historical activity of the wallet to help you determine whether or not the wallet is owned by the whale.
- You can then enter the wallet number on any tracking website to get regular notifications as soon as they make a transaction.
4. Check Social Media For News & Announcements.
While notifications are a great way to track whales, the process may get quite complicated. So, news sources are the next best thing. Of course, there is a delay in news publications and social media posts, but this way, you know who you are tracking.
This is one of the simplest ways to track whale activity. Simply follow cryptocurrency-related news outlets and social media accounts for a better understanding of what they are doing. Whales often post about their trades on Twitter or other platforms, so you can stay updated on their latest moves simply by paying attention to what’s being said online. However, there is always a risk – albeit a relatively rare one.
Whales are well aware of the market and the impact they have on each currency and investors. They may choose to just “play” with the investors, out of spite, or simply a mistake. A prime example is the 2018 Bitcoin Future bet loss by a whale, which led to countless retail investors following suit to face major losses.
5. Use A Telegram Bot
There are various Telegram bots that report on whale activity, such as Whale Alert and CryptoWhaleBot. These can be useful for quickly understanding which coins are being traded in large quantities and where the action is happening.
Most of these bots also give you an indication via the community of whether you should follow suit or not. For example, your portfolio may not be large enough to benefit from a deal, even in a bearish market, or you may not be willing to wait long enough for reliable results.
Of course, you also have the option of setting up Google Alerts or subscribing to newsletters from crypto news outlets to monitor interesting activity across the crypto market. It is a great find whale activity and what they are purchasing.
6. Use An API
If you’re a more advanced trader, you can make use of an exchange’s API to track large trades in real-time. This can be a bit more complicated to set up, but it’s worth it for the extra information you’ll have at your disposal.
ClankApp is a great API that you can use to your advantage and track crypto whales for free. Of course, the paid version of the application can give you access to a wide range of tools as well, but if you are simply looking to stay updated and manual management isn’t a problem for you, the free version will work great as well.
7. Check Out The CoinMarketCap “Rich List.”
CoinMarketCap has a great Watchlist option that you can monitor to see how the top 500 addresses for each cryptocurrency are performing and their activity.
You have the option of ranking the holders by their portfolio size, their holdings, or even the whales that most people follow. This is a great way to learn which wallet belongs to which whale and which ones are more likely to be held by smaller investors.
Why Track Crypto Whales?
Now that you know how to track crypto whales, you might be wondering why you should bother. Is it really a good idea? Aren’t they just a small minority of the overall crypto market (albeit made out of virtual gold)?
Some of the reasons why you should track what crypto whales are purchasing include:
They Can Literally Move Markets
As we mentioned earlier, whales can have a big impact on prices. If you see a whale buying up a particular asset, it’s often a good idea to follow suit. Of course, you should always do your own research before making any investment decisions.
They Are Usually Well-Informed With Market Insights
In general, whales are large investors with a lot of skin in the game. They’re often well-informed about the latest developments in the cryptocurrency space, and they have access to information that smaller investors don’t. It isn’t uncommon for whales like Mark Cuban and Elon Musk to have information sources embedded into the market for insights.
You Can Learn A Lot
By tracking what whales are doing, you can gain insights into their investment strategies – even if they suffer a loss. This can be helpful for developing your own approach to trading cryptocurrencies. You don’t have to invest as they do – just observe.
You Can Avoid Scams – To An Extent
Unfortunately, there are a lot of scams in the cryptocurrency space. However, if you’re paying attention to what whales are doing, you can often avoid these scams by simply not following their lead. Having said that, you need to be careful and understand your position in the market as well before you blindly jump into the deep waters behind them.
Risks of Following What Crypto Whales Are Purchasing
Finally, there are several risks that you have to deal with when tracking what crypto whales are purchasing. These include:
1. You Could Get “Left Behind” In The Deep Waters
If you’re not careful, you could end up buying an asset just as a whale is selling it. This could leave you holding the bag while the price crashes.
2. There is a Risk of Scams
There are a lot of scams in the cryptocurrency space, and some of them are orchestrated by whales, as mentioned above. If you’re not paying attention, you could easily get scammed out of your hard-earned money.
3. You Could Miss Out On Other Opportunities
Your DeFi portfolio may not be as large as a whale’s. The benefit you get from a deal where whales may make millions may not always be the most efficient form of investing for you. If you’re focused on following the whales, you might miss out on other good investment opportunities more suited to your portfolio.
4. The Market Could Crash Because of Their Activities
… and you’ll be left with your bearish portfolio to clean up the mess. It is important to remember that the cryptocurrency markets are still relatively new, and they’re subject to a lot of volatility. If the markets crash because of this, you could lose a lot of money. Not only will you face a loss, but there is also a chance that you won’t be able to bear the loss that comes with a whale-related crash.
There are a number of examples where something similar has happened. The recent cryptocurrency market meltdown, for example, is said to be caused by manipulative whales. There are also reports about the Solana debacle being because of whales selling their tokens.
Whales Can Swim In Deeper Waters – But Can You?
If you’re interested in tracking crypto whales, there are a few things you need to know. First, you’ll need to find a good whale tracking service. There are a few dedicated services that track whale activity that you can go for. Second, NEVER forget about the risks involved. Thirdly, while tracking crypto whales can be a helpful way to spot upcoming trends, it may not always be successful. The ratio of loss may be much higher for you than for a whale, while the profit they earn may be much more significant than what you would be making. Remember, the whales have the fins needed to swim in deeper waters – you may not. Always be smart about tracking and following crypto whales and consider your options, the pros, and the cons before making a purchase corresponding to theirs.