What is Bitcoin whale watching and how to track Bitcoin whales?

July 17, 2022 Coin Telegraph

There are four primary ways to track whale activities, which include monitoring known whale addresses, order books, sudden changes in market capitalization and trades on crypto exchanges.

Whales are held responsible for sudden price fluctuations in the crypto and traditional markets every so often. Given their capability to manipulate market prices, it becomes paramount for the general Bitcoin (BTC) investors to understand the nuances that make one a whale and their overall impact on trading.

Wallet addresses that contain large amounts of BTC are identified as Bitcoin whales. Dumping or transferring large amounts of BTC from one wallet to another negatively impacts the prices, resulting in losses for the smaller traders. As a result, tracking Bitcoin whales in real-time allows small-time traders to make profitable trades amid a fluctuating market.

Despite Bitcoin's global and decentralized nature, tracking down and monitoring whales simply boils down to accessing readily available trading data from crypto exchanges and services. There are four primary ways to track whale activities, which include monitoring known whale addresses, order books, sudden changes in market capitalization and trades on crypto exchanges.

Monitoring known whales provide a headstart to smaller investors as the likeliness of coming across a whale trade increases significantly. Moreover, keeping track of market changes via order books and trades on crypto exchanges indicates incoming whale trades, which can be leveraged to profit during volatility.

3,463 #BTC (73,208,868 USD) transferred from #Coinbase to unknown wallethttps://t.co/fD08jpYD4P
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) July 16, 2022

The crypto community also uses free services that inform investors about successful whale trades, often including information about the sender’s and receiver’s wallets and the amount. One of the most popular services for automatically tracking whale trades is @whale_alert on Twitter, which issues alerts related to large transactions as shown above.

In a recent market update, Cointelegraph revealed that on-chain data suggested that the largest Bitcoin hodlers were reluctant to act at current prices. BlockTrends analyst Caue Oliveira supported the above finding by highlighting a "hibernation" continuing among whale wallet. He added:

"Institutional movements, or commonly called "whale activity" can be tracked based on the transaction volume moved over a short period of time, both denominated in BTC and USD."

Moreover, numerous altcoins continue to mimic Bitcoin’s bearish trends as whales await a greener sentiment across the crypto market.

The Bitcoin Family talks about traveling, giving and orange-pilling

March 2, 2022 Coin Telegraph

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Didi Taihuttu, the father and husband of the Bitcoin Family shares life advice extending to happiness, charity and Bitcoin nomadism in a Cointelegraph video interview.

Seasoned crypto enthusiasts will remember Didi Taihuttu as the man who went all-in on Bitcoin (BTC) in 2016. He sold his and his family’s possessions. camping out in the Netherlands while he waited for Bitcoin to the moon.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Taihuttu recalls how it felt to own almost nothing but Bitcoin, 6 years ago:

“I don’t have any cars, motorbikes, nothing. And I’m happier than ever. And she [Taihuttu's wife] agrees! At that moment we decide to break that chain and lead by example for the kids.”

He explains his realization that life is about accumulating happiness, “instead of accumulating wealth.” Hence, the Bitcoin Family was born. The three daughters “only have Bitcoin, not bank accounts,” while the parents have never looked back on their former lives.

The fivesome has spent the past five years traveling the world, settling on Southern Portugal as one nomadic base for living. They're in good company to promote the Bitcoiner lifestyle down there; Portugal is a growing hub for the seminal cryptocurrency.

Taihuttu concedes that there are, of course, challenges regarding how to travel the world living off a Bitcoin standard–particularly while looking after three teenage daughters.

However, it hasn’t stopped other explorer families from following in their footsteps. Taihuttu cites that “six families” have since sold all their possessions, à la Bitcoin Family, to enjoy the Bitcoin lifestyle.

The Bitcoin Family. Source: thebitcoinfamily.com

Closer to home, Taihuttu orange-pilled his brother and sister, even persuading them to take part in the traveling lifestyle. He concludes that “the decentralized digital nomad lifestyle is the future.”

Taihuttu is wildly generous, giving away something in the order of 40% of his wealth to charities. Profits from trading, affiliate links, book sales, merchandise sales and other “digital nomad” activities are funneled into charity projects.

*Bitcoin Family charity projects. Source: thebitcoinfamily.com*

For example, they have built a school in Mexico for disadvantaged children as well as an orphanage in Venezuela. Naturally, though, there’s a Bitcoin twist.

As the video details with a Mario illustration, it’s a three-step process to orange pill and establish a charity.

Teach Bitcoin
Learn how to exchange it
Grow adoption

While the projects are not born Bitcoin-only, they are certainly not centralized:

“The CEO of a centralized organization [charity] will be driving a BMW. We don’t want that, we do peer to peer.”

The objective for Taihuttu is to engage with other orange-pilled people wherever they travel. They then sit down together and scope out the sources of concern, addressing the issues that would make the biggest positive impact.

The process stems from one of Taihuttu’s many mantras, “Everyone with a heartbeat and a telephone should be able to transact value all over the world.” Bitcoin is that solution and it should inevitably become an intrinsic part of charity projects.

In all, although the Bitcoin Family will continue their world travels, their focus is now firmly on Europe. El Salvador and the next country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender are of course attractive travel destinations, but Taihuttu is passionate about his home continent’s journey towards Bitcoin adoption.

Sub $30K Bitcoin price sell-off would require panic ‘to a large degree’

February 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Sub K Bitcoin price sell-off would require panic ‘to a large degree’

Binance

Market analysis suggests that for Bitcoin to start knocking on the door of a sub $30,000 Bitcoin, sellers would “need to panic out to a large degree.”

Order books, essentially the list of orders that a trading outlet implements to show the interest of buyers and sellers, show considerable buyer interest in the $30,000 region on large exchanges Coinbase and Binance.

There is 5,000 Bitcoin sat ready to purchase down to a $30,000 price, and another 7,000 BTC down to a $28,000 price on Binance.

The sell-off may not be over, but Bitcoin (BTC) buyers can take solace in the knowledge that order books in the $28,500 to $30,000 region are dense. Consequently, the price plunge due to Russia’s military operations may take a breather.

*Binance order book. Source: ThinkingBitmex Twitter*

Binance is one of the leading exchanges worldwide, consistently demonstrating the largest spot volume over a 24 hour period, according to Statista.

For Coinbase, it’s a similar story with more acute numbers. There is roughly 3,500 Bitcoin ready to buy for prices approaching $30,000, and 4,500 Bitcoin ready to gobble up Bitcoin down to $28,000.

Glassnode reported that “futures open interest just reached a 6-month low of $1,780,397,103.63” on the Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange, FTX.

Open interest has been trending down across all exchanges for the past few weeks, meaning that fewer traders are “liquidated” and volatile price swings are less likely.

*BTC open interest on FTX. Source: Glassnode*

Metrics on exchanges Bybit and Binance Futures also reveal minimal open interest. In essence, these exchanges won’t be “deleveraging us out” of the current bearish price action and leveraged positions are waning.

So if leveraged positions or “liquidation cascades” won’t drive the price lower, and there is major but interest down to the $30,000 levels, then what would cause a sub $30,000 Bitcoin?

Spot selling. There has to be a strong reason for sellers who didn’t sell the last time Bitcoin was sub $33,000 to do so this time.

With the Bitcoin Fear and greed index creeping into the “extreme fear” region once more, and BTC dipping 12% overnight, investors' conviction will once again be tested.

Trader builds Bitcoin ‘buy the dip’ bot, outperforms DCA

February 8, 2022 Coin Telegraph

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A Redditor has created an automated dip-buying bot that beats dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin by roughly 10%.

While a bullish backdrop emerges in February, spare a thought for the traders trying to time the market. One savvy trader by the name of u/Samjhill on Reddit has built a trading tool that outperforms dollar-cost averaging (DCA) for buying Bitcoin (BTC).

DCA is the strategy in which investors buy a small amount regularly regardless of price fluctuations. It works in contrast to traders keen to get the lowest entry, timing the dip to perfection and avoiding “catching a falling knife.”

The aptly named “Buy the Dip Bot” aims to “get the best price for a given asset by using a limit strategy.” Inspired by another Redditor who suggested a manual limit-buy-order strategy for getting the best price entry, u/Samjhill took the idea one step further, coding up a dip-buying bot.

The bot places limit orders at several intervals below the current price, and if an order gets executed or canceled, it starts again. Using tech from Amazon Web Services, Python, Lambda, DynamoDB and React.JS while hosted on GitHub, the cost to run is low, “about $5 per month.”

While the bot has been beavering away since December, it hit a maiden milestone on Monday. Reaching profitability versus regular dollar-cost averaging, “the price-per-coin advantage is about (cheaper) 5%–10% right now, which you could also think of as getting that much more coin for your money,” Sam told Cointelegraph.

The bot runs a backtesting library to work out the best entry points for the limit buys. A complex process, the work paid off, culminated in a “winning strategy.”

When asked by Cointelegraph if he would recommend the bot as opposed to regular DCA, Sam replied it depends on where you are in your BTC journey:

“For people just starting out, regular DCA probably makes more sense since your goal is probably to stack as many coins as possible. For those later in their journey, they might have a decent stack already and want to minimize increasing their cost basis and so might benefit more from this.”

Sam, who first learned of Bitcoin around 2013, added that he is doing both DCA and the limit strategy “to get a more even curve of coin growth.”

While the future is currently Bitcoin orange for the trading bot, Sam built the system for easy integration with other coins. Ether (ETH) features on the GitHub page, and Sam hints he may roll out other coins to production.

Orange-pilled by Michael Saylor, NorthmanTrader CEO now a Bitcoin supporter

January 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Sven Henrich, CEO of NorthmanTrader, is the latest Bitcoin supporter after speaking with Michael Saylor.

There is still room for humility and humor amidst a gloomy January for Bitcoin (BTC). A former outspoken Bitcoin critic has flipped bullish on Bitcoin after conversations with Michael Saylor, CEO of Microstrategy.

What’s more, Sven Henrich, the CEO of market analysis firm NorthManTrader, made light of his change of heart retweeting a jibe from Twitter account Documenting Bitcoin.

Excellent https://t.co/tAIwLWJfKv
— Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) January 24, 2022

Despite his previous comments that Bitcoin “fixes nothing”, Henrich has followed the crypto markets for three years. He tweeted regularly about Bitcoin price action, offering market analysis as reported by Cointelegraph.

However, he had no intentions of buying. In 2022, he is now a “supporter of Bitcoin.” That means an “exposure into Bitcoin this coming year;” pro-Bitcoin articles such as the detailed and well-researched piece entitled (R)evolution, and even laser eyes on his Twitter profile picture.

But how did that happen? How do staunch anti-Bitcoin critics cross the void and commit to supporting Satoshi Nakomoto’s innovation?

It appears to have kicked off when one of the biggest Bitcoin bulls, Michael Saylor, gave his two sats during a Twitter conversation between the pair. In July 2021, Saylor extended an olive branch to the CEO, demonstrating to Henrich that he should investigate BTC in more depth.

Shortly after, they hosted a Youtube discussion in which Saylor does his best to orange pill the trader and investment pundit.

Fast-forward seven months and Henrich is writing detailed pieces evaluating the “alternative to an imposed monetary system,” coming to the conclusion that “Bitcoin is such an alternative.”

Henrich explains his current allegiance:

“So to fans of Bitcoin I say this: One of you. To those that are not: Don’t hate, appreciate ;-). That’s what makes a market.”

The article called “(R)evolution, why I am becoming a supporter of #Bitcoin” explains the macroeconomic backdrop, musings around regulation and the asset bubble. It is now pinned to the top of Henrich’s Twitter account.

Saylor and Henrich recorded another in-depth discussion together on January 19th called “warming to Bitcoin,” in which Henrich affirmed that he is “looking to buy.” During the chat, Saylor urged Sven and viewers to invest more time in studying BTC.

While we’ll have to wait for his announcement of his BTC purchase, it’s another win for Saylor. Undeterred by recent price action as he sets out to orange-pill the world, Saylor says, “we are going to convince everybody.”

Bitcoin leverage ratio reaches new highs

January 7, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Price

In a dramatic week for Bitcoin price action, traders are keen to capitalize, hitting a new all-time high for the leverage ratio.

The estimated leverage ratio for Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time high last night according to CryptoQuant. Further metrics point to growing leveraged interest, but liquidations have remained relatively low.

According to on-chain analytics resource CryptoQuant, while the Bitcoin price fell off a cliff over the past 24 hours, the estimated leverage ratio reached 0.224, an all-time high. The metric works by dividing exchanges’ open interest by their coin reserve. The result shows how much leverage traders are using on average.

A higher ratio, such as 0.22, indicates that more investors are taking high leverage risks. Conversely, lower values mean traders are increasingly risk-averse in their derivative trading. The blue line on the graph below, it's trended upwards since June 2019.

*Estimated leverage ratio for Bitcoin. Source: CryptoQuant*

Most cryptocurrency exchanges offer leverage trading with FTX, Huobi and Binance leading the way. They have all agreed to reduce the amount of leverage available to traders in order to prevent mass liquidation events, such as the one seen in September last year when $3.5 billion longs and shorts were liquidated.

Nonetheless, it hasn’t slowed exchanges plans to bring leverage trading to a wider audience. Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX exchange, tweeted that his “FTX 20x Leveraged Bitcoin Index” has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. According to the Wienerborse, Austrian daredevils will soon be able to access up to 20x leveraged BTC trades.

Meanwhile, despite a circa 10% price drop over the past three days, a mere half a billion dollars worth of liquidations took place across all exchanges according to coinglass.com data (formerly ByBt), less than the $600 million worth of liquidations that took place in minutes in March last year.

It’s eery to observe the leverage ratio hit all-time highs and liquidations remain steady, all while the price stoops lower. Could more volatility be in the cards?

Analyst Will Clemente summed it up adequately in a tweet. “Could still resolve to the upside. All I know for sure is that this party is just getting started.”

Alleged South African Bitcoin Fraudster Makes First Court Appearance Since Arrest

October 26, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Fraud-Accused South African Bitcoin Trader to Turn Himself Over to Police: Report

October 19, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Analyst says $42K must hold to keep Bitcoin price from sweeping its swing low

September 27, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin needs to hold $42,000 or it risks sliding as low as $32,000, according to crypto trader Eric Krown.

Bitcoin bulls continued to battle with bears near the $43,000 support level on Sept. 27 as China’s crackdown on all things cryptocurrency put a halt to last week’s positive price movements and has stifled growth into the day.

According to Eric Krown, a cryptocurrency trader and host of Krown’s Crypto Cave, what comes next for Bitcoin (BTC) really “depends on what timeframe you are talking about,” but he is currently focused on the more medium- to long-term outlook.

In the latest episode of “The Market Report” with Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency trader indicated that for right now, “We are probably going to range around this low-$40,000 region” and suggested that he would “be looking at this potential reversal point right here” if BTC manages to hold on to $42,000.

If BTC fails to hold this support level, Krown indicated that the price could continue to fall for a while and drop “all the way to $32,000–$33,000, [filling] the CME gap from months ago.”

While this is one possible scenario, Krown suggested that he sees a more positive future for the price of Bitcoin as we enter the last quarter of 2021.

Krown said:

“I actually am a little bit more on the optimistic side here. I do think that whether Bitcoin has bottomed out right here and kind of spends some time just ranging here, or whether it comes down to $32,000–$33,000, I actually do think that end of year probably looks most likely fine.”

“The Market Report” streams live every Thursday at 4:00 pm UTC, so be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page, and smash that like and subscribe button for all our future videos and updates.

Veteran trader explains when it’s the best time to cash out of the market

September 17, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Trader

Veteran trader Charlie Burton gives tips on how investors can manage their emotions in bull markets and the importance of sticking to a defined set of trading rules.

2021 has been a wild ride for the cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin shocked its naysayers by setting a new record high at $64,863, and the DeFi and NFT sector made headlines around the world.

Crypto traders need to be wary of times like these because the notoriously volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market can see vast fortunes wiped out in a matter of hours or days once the trend shifts.

According to Charlie Burton, veteran trader and the co-founder of Ezeetrader, this is when it is important for every trader to have a defined set of rules that they stick to when emotions begin to run hot because “we are all fallible, flawed human beings, especially in front of the markets.”

Burton said,

“We are naturally influenced by greed or fear to one propensity or another. So we absolutely need to have some simple rules, but I would also say a lot of visualization is good.”

These rules may include things like at what percentage loss do investors place a stop loss, the maximum percentage of the portfolio that one will allow to be put on any trade, and having a set sell orders for investments.

Burton said,

“What is important is a lot of self-talk. ‘If I take this trade now, and it doesn’t work out, will I be upset with myself?’ This is a great line to help stop me from jumping into trades that I just shouldn’t be in.”

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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