What Cryptos Have Whales Been Hoarding this Week?

This week’s headlines were dominated by the XRP victory over the SEC in the landmark ruling and how it perked up the market as a whole. The news has translated into whale investments as well, revealing renewed confidence in the market. 

Here are five cryptocurrencies that received large whale attention this week. If retail investors follow suit, the assets could set new yearly highs in the next few days. 

Whales Have Eyes Set on Optimism 

One of the key cryptocurrencies to benefit from whale action this week is OP, the native cryptocurrency of the Optimism blockchain network. According to on-chain data, large-scale investors are hoarding OP in anticipation of a price increase. Whether they are aiming for short-term or long-term returns remains to be seen. 

But given that the network is not preparing for any major updates or milestones, the whale action reveals the long-term prospects of the asset. Ripple’s historic victory against the SEC has reinstated faith in the future of the crypto market as a whole. 

Many industry experts and global financial analysts believe that the market will rebound throughout 2023, setting new yearly highs for established cryptocurrencies like Optimism. 

Optimism 1-month price overview, 21 July 2023, CoinMarketCap

According to data from Santiment, the number of whales holding 100,000 million to 1 million OP coins are on the rise. The fresh investments made by whales within a short space of time have translated into a positive price movement for OP, which is 7.32% up on the daily chart. 

Despite the broader market receding, the coin has been showing steady progress, hinting at an upcoming breakout. But if whale confidence in the project deteriorates and OP fails to maintain momentum, the price can slip under $1.25 next week. 

Investors are Flocking to Wall Street Memes – $16M Raised 

At the time of writing, the presale has crossed the $16M milestone of its $30M presale. 

The Wall Street Memes community has a strong foothold among investors, traders, and business leaders from around the world. Even Elon Musk is no stranger to its posts. 

But Elon Musk’s indirect involvement with the project explains little about the meme coin or its popularity. Yes, he has inadvertently added to the hype. But the community’s influence in the crypto community exceeds his influence on the presale. 

For example, the Wall Street Memes community launched its first NFT collection in 2021. Titled Wall St. Bulls, the collection was sold out in half an hour. The meteoric progress of the presale is likely a preview of the upcoming meme coin breakout, as a result. 

According to top industry analysts and crypto publications, Wall Street Memes can emerge to become the top-performing meme coin of this year. Given the vast community support for the project and the hype building up to the token launch, it has the potential to enter the ‘Crypto Top-50’ chart in a month of release. 

I hope they play 'No Debt Ceiling' pic.twitter.com/tC1zqYm3CO

— Wall Street Memes (@wallstmemes) July 20, 2023

A conservative WSM price prediction is 25X-30X. The positive outlook in the broader market could, however, help the token break past the ROIs set by Pepe that amounted to around 7000% in a month. If the token launch parallels a crypto bull cycle, the meme coin can explode anywhere from 80X to 100X. 

The potentially explosive price action makes the ongoing WSM presale highly coveted. Although retail investors dominated the first-half of the presale, that may not be the case as it nears the sell-out. Whale action is expected to rob retail investors of the chance to get an early entry to the project at discounted prices in the coming days. 

Whales are Unfazed by the DeFi Attacks on Arbitrum 

Another established cryptocurrency to draw the attention of whales this week is Arbitrum. Despite the series of DeFi attacks that tarnished the ecosystem, the asset remains largely unaffected. If anything, whales are taking advantage of the situation to buy the token for discounts. 

Lookonchain reveals a massive influx of whale investments to the project, which can potentially convert into a positive price action for the token. Five whales withdrew a total of 10.5 million ARB ($13.5 million) from Binance, while a single whale removed 2.34 million ARB ($3 million) from Binance. 

Another whale withdrew 2.34M $ARB ($3M) from #Binance 20 mins ago.

5 whales have withdrawn a total of 10.5M $ARB ($13.5M) from #Binance in the past 3 days.https://t.co/1FleolpN3Qhttps://t.co/E9GCmJ7ftc pic.twitter.com/2ic2HsEtse

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 18, 2023

Although the network’s safety has been a point of debate in the crypto community over the last few days, clearly, that hasn’t deterred whales from pouring money into it. But that has yet to reflect in the price movement.

ARB price has managed to climb just 3% over the last seven days. It could be attributed to the broader market euphoria around the landmark victory of XRP more than the social sentiments around the project.

As a result, the recent whale action speaks for the investor confidence in the project from a long-term perspective. The network has yet to leave behind the negative narratives around its safety. Until the social sentiments look up, Arbitrum will remain a bleak investment this year. It will have a hard time breaking past the strong resistance at $1.5 without support from the broader market. 

BTC20 – Repeating Bitcoin’s Life Cycle as an ERC-20 token.

Within hours of launching the early token sale, BTC20 emerged to become one of the top gainers this week. The ERC-20 token on Ethereum is repeating Bitcoin’s lifecycle, starting from when it was selling for $1. The presale price is capped at $1, reflecting the BTC price in April 2011. 

Welcome to the world of $BTC20 – The Revolutionary Staking Token

A groundbreaking PoS #Crypto token built on #Ethereum!

We pay homage to the original #Bitcoin while introducing a passive income-staking mechanism that empowers our community of #Cryptoenthusiasts.

pic.twitter.com/gB18L4awfR

— BTC20 (@BTC20Token) July 18, 2023

• The total supply of BTC20 will be 21 million tokens,
• Up to 6.05 million tokens will be sold in the presale at $1 each,
• All unsold tokens (minimum of 14.95 million) will be locked in a staking contract to reward BTC20 stakers. 

Missing out on BTC at $1 is a regret for most investors. With BTC20, they get one more chance to join the hype. But what attracts whales to the project, apart from its low entry barrier, is the high staking rewards. 

As a green ERC-20 version of Bitcoin built on the Ethereum blockchain, BTC20 puts forward a verified staking contract. It will pump out BTC20 tokens in line with the original Bitcoin block rewards schedule. Investors can stake BTC20 and earn a percentage of these rewards through the new Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism, which is more energy- and cost-efficient than Bitcoin mining. 

The recent surge of tokens like Bitcoin Cash has also catalyzed the BTC20 presale momentum. 

Synthetix is 56.47% Up in a Month 

Synthetix had a slow start in July. The trajectory from July 13 has been action-packed, however, taking the coin above the much-awaited $3 mark. SNX couldn’t have accomplished this winning streak without support from whales. 

They have been pouring funds into the asset over the last few days, building up for a breakout. 

Synthetix 7-day price overview, 21 July 2023, CoinMarketCap

Now that the price has crossed the barrier at $3, it remains to be seen whether they will hold onto SNX for further returns or dump them for quick profits. Either way, the token has a price correction on the horizon as the social sentiments mellow down.