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Save The Whales? Why Big Traders Aren’t That Bad For The Crypto Ecosystem

Save The Whales? Why Big Traders Aren’t That Bad For The Crypto Ecosystem

Whales dominate the crypto seas, and it isn't always a bad thing.

Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) price

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Market cap
$42.8B (shares as of 2026-06-30)
P/E (trailing)
Not meaningful: trailing loss. Diluted EPS −3.79 for 2025-07-01 to 2026-06-30, rolled from reported annual and year-to-date EPS (approximate) SEC filing
Annual revenue
$7.2B USD (FY ended 2025-12-31) 10-K
Annual revenue growth
+9.4% (FY ended 2025-12-31 vs FY ended 2024-12-31) 10-K
Annual net income
1,260,327,000 USD (FY ended 2025-12-31, attributable to the company) 10-K
Annual operating margin
20.0% (FY ended 2025-12-31)
Forward P/E
Unavailable: no dated forecast source

Gloria daily close for session Oct 28, 2026. Market cap and trailing P/E use this close with the SEC share total and trailing diluted earnings, each dated next to its figure. Annual revenue, revenue growth, net income and margin show their own fiscal period and link the 10-K. Current context may postdate this article.

Coinbase Global, Inc. and its peers

Company PriceMarket capP/E (trailing)Forward P/EAnnual revenue (USD)Annual revenue growthAnnual net income (USD)Operating margin
Coinbase Global, Inc. COIN · Price dated Oct 28, 2026 · tokenized COINx $162$42.8BNot meaningfulLoss, diluted EPS −3.79
to 2026-06-30 · SEC filing
Unavailable$7.2BFY ended 2025-12-31 · 10-K+9.4%FY ended 2025-12-31 vs 2024-12-31 · 10-K1,260,327,000FY ended 2025-12-31, attributable to the company · 10-K20.0%FY ended 2025-12-31
Strategy Inc MSTR · Price dated Oct 28, 2026 · tokenized MSTRx $145UnavailableNot meaningfulLoss, diluted EPS −96.98
to 2026-06-30 · SEC filing
Unavailable$477.2MFY ended 2025-12-31 · 10-K+3.0%FY ended 2025-12-31 vs 2024-12-31 · 10-K−3,848,152,000FY ended 2025-12-31, attributable to the company · 10-K−1,140.8%FY ended 2025-12-31
Circle Internet Group, Inc. CRCL · Price dated Oct 28, 2026 · tokenized CRCLx $82Unavailable16.4Unavailable$2.7BFY ended 2025-12-31 · 10-K+63.9%FY ended 2025-12-31 vs 2024-12-31 · 10-K−69,508,000FY ended 2025-12-31, attributable to the company · 10-K−3.5%FY ended 2025-12-31
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. BMNR · Price dated Oct 28, 2026 · tokenized BMNRx $22$13.3BNot meaningfulLoss, diluted EPS −4.50
to 2026-05-31 · SEC filing
Unavailable$6.1MFY ended 2025-08-31 · 10-K+84.1%FY ended 2025-08-31 vs 2024-08-31 · 10-K348,577,000FY ended 2025-08-31, attributable to the company · 10-K7,288.1%FY ended 2025-08-31

Missing figures stay unavailable. Forward P/E requires a dated source. Annual revenue, revenue growth, net income and margin come from each company's own 10-K, in US dollars, and each row shows that fiscal year. Revenue growth compares the fiscal year with the prior year stated in the same 10-K. Net income is the full year amount attributable to the company, or available to common stockholders where the filing states only that, or consolidated net income. Each row names its basis. Trailing P/E reads "Not meaningful" when the dated trailing diluted EPS is a loss or zero. An operating margin appears only when the filing states both the operating income and the revenue for the same year.

Sources: SEC filings, Gloria daily closes and CoinGecko. Oldest record refresh: Oct 28, 2026, 4:41 PM EDT. Refresh is not a price or filing date. Each row shows its price date and its annual fiscal period. Peers use industry code and company size, or editorial selection. Market cap multiplies that row price by the company share total the latest SEC filing states for every share class together. Trailing P/E divides it by trailing diluted earnings from SEC filings. Rolled earnings per share are approximate because share counts can change between periods. Both appear only when the SEC data carries its date, so they are estimates at one price date, not synchronized filing valuations. Not investment advice.

Bitcoin tumbled overnight, dropping around fourteen percent within a few hours from around $8,500 to $7,700. With it fell the wider crypto market, as altcoins joined in on the freefall.

Whales, a colloquial term for well-financed traders, have been part of the scenery since bitcoin was invented. They play a significant impact on crypto markets, as large movements often cause a domino effect of panic selling or buying, especially by trading bots.

Most traders have become accustomed to these financial leviathans, which remain a highly disliked species. But as long as there’s money to be had, whales aren’t going away any time soon.

With markets now bloodier than the ending of Moby Dick, this might be an opportune time to evaluate the mixed benefits which these creatures bring to the ecosystem.


What Just Happened?

Online gossips linked the recent drop to several heavy whale movements, around half an hour before the sell-off began. The first move was a 25,000 BTC movement to Coinbase.

That was followed by a withdrawal of exactly 14,000 bitcoin. Then, 11 thousand more bitcoin was moved from Coinbase to another wallet, and exactly ten million USDTs moved between wallets fifteen minutes later.

A panic sell-off ensued, wiping fourteen percent from the price of bitcoin and causing similar drops in most altcoins.

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The Good

When large trades cause a market dump, they present an opportunity to ‘buy the dip’ to those sitting on the sidelines.

In the solemn words of future President John McAfee:

An artificial 14% discount represents a chance for small traders to make easy profits, if they are confident prices will eventually recover. Whales are too large to combat directly, but individual hodlers can ride the waves they create.


Supply And Demand Pressure

Furthermore, all healthy markets need short sellers in order to ensure efficient price discovery. Deliberately dumping bitcoin to create a sell-off is not the same as short selling, but in a market like this one it may have a similar effect.

Today’s cryptocurrency market offers relatively few ways to bet against bitcoin. Whales’ ability to create downwards pressure leads to a healthier market, with bearish and bullish sentiment baked into the price.

Moreover, those big traders also help price discovery. While crypto exchanges often report significant differences in bitcoin prices, most traders do not have the resources to profit from those variations. By arbitraging prices across exchanges, large traders help ensure that crypto prices remain consistent in each marketplace.

One can’t help adding that it’s slightly hypocritical to complain about whale manipulation driving prices downwards, since hodlers also enjoy the benefits of whale-related price surges. Most digital asset participants hold long positions, so whereas dips can be painful, everyone gets to enjoy the sudden rises. And 2019 has been particularly kind in that regard.


The Bad

Crypto markets are not the only markets that suffer the scourge of manipulation. Large and influential traders are in every market, even tightly regulated ones.  High-frequency traders on Wall Street have been quote stuffing and front-running client orders for years, and those who get caught are in a minority.

For large players, markets are easy to manipulate. Crypto markets are smaller, and therefore even easier to manipulate. Unfortunately, undue influence will always be an inevitable part of any market.


The Ugly

Being largely unregulated and relatively small, cryptocurrency markets are more prone to manipulation than traditional markets. Not only is it easier to do, there are also fewer consequences. Crypto markets are also more open to newer or naive traders, who are more likely to panic when the market tanks.

Manipulation is an inevitable growing pain of cryptocurrency markets and it is like to fade as the markets mature and expand. As long as traders are driven by fear and greed, crypto markets are unlikely to escape the tail flaps of the whales any time soon.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Paul de Havilland. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

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