Traders Warn Against Bitcoin Whale Watching: No ‘True Alpha’ Found in Market Speculation

Tracking the wallet movements of Bitcoin whales—those holding a significant amount of BTC—has been popular for speculating on market sentiment. However, traders argue that it doesn’t lead to “true alpha.” “Don’t whale watch kids, it’s not useful information,” stated James Check, lead analyst at Glassnode, in a June 15 X post. He added, “Not once have I seen true alpha extracted from whale watching. It’s good for social media, but is almost never serious nor valuable analysis.” Crypto traders commonly believe that Bitcoin whales can influence the market with their trading tactics. While whales can impact the market, their movements