How Are The Bitcoin Whales Affecting the Cryptocurrency Price?

Photo: Business Insider

(Business Insider) - A Bitcoin whale is a term that refers to individuals or entities that hold large amounts of bitcoin, according to Investopedia. There are around 1,000 individuals who own 40% of the market.

Whales have the potential to manipulate the currency valuations and, given Bitcoin's fluctuations in recent weeks, they are increasingly under the spotlight.

The Telegraph reported on Friday that, according to industry data, around 13% of all Bitcoin, or around $80 billion, sits in just over 100 individual accounts. It added that the top 40% of all Bitcoin (approximately $240 billion) is held by just under 2,500 known accounts, out of roughly 100 million in total.

How Do Whales Impact Bitcoin's Price?

The number of addresses holding more than 1,000 Bitcoin is at 2,334, a new all-time high, according to CoinDesk.

Single trades made by such whales can lead to huge changes to the price of Bitcoin – swamping any movements by smaller investors, The Sun reported.

Bitcoin reached a record high of $41,973 on January 8. However, on Friday Insider reported that the cryptocurrency was on course for its biggest weekly price fall since September. It recovered to around $32,170 by Saturday morning, leaving it down about 10% since Monday. 

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