In crypto slang, a dolphin is an investor or address holding a medium-sized amount of a cryptocurrency: more than small retail holders, often nicknamed shrimp, crabs or fish, but much less than a whale. The labels come from on-chain analytics, where wallets are sorted into size bands to track how different groups behave. There is no fixed threshold; for Bitcoin, some data providers have used bands such as roughly 100 to 1,000 BTC for dolphins, while others draw the lines differently, and bands vary by asset. Analysts watch whether dolphins are adding to or reducing their holdings as one indicator of sentiment among wealthier individuals and smaller funds. Interpretation needs care, because a single exchange or custodian address can hold coins for thousands of customers and distort the counts. Also see blockchain analytics and HODLer.
Last updated 13 Nov 2026