If you’re interested in the big investors of the digital world, you should learn what a dolphin in crypto means. A crypto dolphin isn’t a sea creature; it’s a term for an investor who enters the digital asset market with a large investment but isn’t quite a whale.

Read our breakdown of the concept in the crypto investors’ hierarchy.

What Is a Crypto Dolphin?

The term crypto dolphin refers to the category of investors who hold a moderate amount of Bitcoin. This term originated in the mid-2010s when crypto investors began to be categorized as sea animals.

That said, in the hierarchy of Bitcoin sea animals, dolphins are below sharks and above fish. Any investor who owns between 100 and 500 BTC is considered a crypto dolphin. However, since they are in the middle of the hierarchy, they won’t significantly impact the crypto market.

The goal of dolphin investors is to earn significant returns in the long run. This is why they usually use long-term trading strategies. This enables them to survive both bull and bear markets. They will also have diversified portfolios.

The best examples of crypto dolphins include:

  • Long-term investors
  • Wealth management firms
  • Institutional investors

The Crypto Hierarchy

As mentioned above, crypto investors are divided into several categories, depending on the amount of BTC they hold. Here’s what that hierarchy looks like:

  • Crypto shrimp: The term shrimp refers to investors who hold between 0.1 and 1 BTC. They can also be defined as investors most likely to react to price fluctuations. On that note, they’ll buy and sell their assets during the bullish and bearish markets.
  • Crypto crab: Crabs are investors who hold between 1 and 10 bitcoins. They tend to capitalize on changes in the prices of cryptocurrencies with large market caps, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
  • Crypto octopus: Octopuses hold between 10 and 50 BTC. They are usually experienced investors who have diversified portfolios. Since price fluctuations influence them, they typically use risk management strategies, like hedging and stop-loss orders.
  • Crypto fish: Fish hold between 50 and 100 BTC. They usually divide their investments into multiple installments to avoid large price fluctuations.
  • Dolphin: Dolphins are long-term investors who hold between 100 and 500 BTC.
  • Shark: Sharks hold between 500 and 1000 BTC. Sharks are usually investors who bought BTC 10 years ago when its price was quite low. They often use the hodling strategy to profit from price changes in the long term.
  • Whale: Crypto whales are investors who hold between 1000 and 5000 BTC. Crypto whales are mainly millionaires and institutional investors. They have a significant impact on the crypto market. Why? Because they can trigger a bearish and bullish sentiment.

That said, shrimps make up the largest percentage of crypto investors, while crypto whales make up the least:

Category

 Number of addresses Amount of bitcoins

Shrimps

 32 million ~ 0.039 BTC

Crabs

 740,000 ~ 2.73 BTC

Octopuses

 80,000 ~ 21.75 BTC

Fish

 12,000

~ 74.17 BTC
Dolphins 10,000

~ 214 BTC
Sharks 2,200

~ 763.63 BTC

Whales

 1,450

~ 1855.17 BTC

Crypto Whales vs Crypto Dolphins

As mentioned before, crypto dolphins are individuals who hold between 100 and 500 BTC. They are usually long-term investors whose goal is to grow their portfolios gradually. To achieve this, they will diversify their portfolios.

Dolphins take a hands-on approach, and their investments are usually small. They’ll also look to profit from new crypto projects. About 10,000 crypto investors are dolphins, meaning their influence on the crypto market will be limited.

On the other hand, crypto whales are wealthy investors who hold between 1000 and 5000 BTC. Although there are only 1,450 of them, whales significantly impact the crypto market. Namely, since they hold a large amount of cryptocurrency, they’ll have greater voting power on blockchains that use the PoS consensus.

Due to their large investments, they can also influence the dynamics, liquidity, and prices of crypto coins and tokens.

Conclusion

Crypto dolphins can be categorized as individuals who hold a moderate amount of BTC – between 100 and 500 BTC. Their position in the crypto hierarchy is between fishes and sharks. The goal of crypto dolphins is to profit in the long run.

Since they are affected by changes in cryptocurrency prices, they actively follow market trends. Dolphins understand blockchain technology, which helps them find projects that show the potential for high returns.

They are also aware of the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies. This is why they have diversified portfolios.