TL;DR
A whale is an individual or entity holding a very large amount of a cryptocurrency, whose trades can significantly move the token’s price.
There’s no strict threshold, but in the Solana memecoin world, holding 2-5%+ of a token’s supply usually qualifies. For SOL itself, whales typically hold millions of dollars worth. Whale status is relative to the token — holding $50K of a $500K market cap memecoin makes you a whale, while $50K of SOL doesn’t. What matters is whether a single wallet’s sell would meaningfully impact the price.
When a whale sells a large position in a low-liquidity memecoin, the price can crash 30-80% instantly. Conversely, a whale buying into a small token can pump the price dramatically. This is why holder distribution matters — a token where the top 10 wallets hold 50%+ of supply is vulnerable to coordinated or sequential dumps.
Wallet Scanner on MadeOnSol lets you analyze any wallet’s holdings, PnL, and trading patterns. Copy trading tools let you mirror whale trades. On-chain data makes whale tracking fully transparent — you can see exactly when large holders buy, sell, or transfer tokens. Many profitable traders build their edge by identifying skilled whale wallets and monitoring their activity.