Whale

A whale in the cryptocurrency industry refers to an entity — individual, institution, or exchange — that holds a significant amount of a particular cryptocurrency, the amount of which qualifies a user as a ‘whale’ is subjective. The bottom line is that whales own a significant portion of a cryptocurrency’s total supply, so much so that they could potentially impact the asset’s price with their buy or sell orders.

Due to the size of their orders, whales’ transactions may temporarily increase volatility, especially in assets with low liquidity. Consequently, traders like to keep track of known whales in the industry to prepare for when they make a move.