Definition of a financial Whale – Individuals or entities that hold large amounts of a financial asset.
**Market Influences**
Gold – Whales, such as central banks, may significantly affect gold prices through buying or selling. There is also the issue of hedge fund day traders and main stream news controlling sentiment.
Monero – Whales, large holders of XMR, may influence Monero’s market price due to its low circulating supply. There is also the issue of node operators affecting the price is there was a large shutdown of nodes as one time.
**Investment Stability**
Gold – Seen as a stable, traditional asset with intrinsic value. Throughout history it is the metal of choice by humans to gawk over.
Monero – It is more volatile; and influenced by the cryptocurrency market dynamics. Luckily meme coins do not affect the price of Monero as much as other cryptos such as USDT or BTC.
**Liquidity Rating**
Gold – Highly liquid, easily tradable in various markets. Not as easy with bank notes and IOUs such as ETFs.
Monero – Can be traded but may have less liquidity compared to Bitcoin or Ethereum, mainly due to USDT and USDC pricing coordination among traders, at centralized cryto exchanges.
**Regulatory Scrutiny**
Gold – Subject to regulations in many countries regarding storage and trade.
Monero – Faces scrutiny regarding its privacy features and potential use in illicit activities.
**Historical Value(s)**
Gold – Used as currency and a standard of wealth for centuries. No other competitors as a reserve currency, only by centralized government choice.
Monero – Relatively new, emerging in the last decade as a decentralized currency. Other competitors such as ZCash and Firo.
**Intrinsic Value(s)**
Gold – Considered a hedge against inflation; physical and durable asset. Value is derived by choice of governments.
Monero – Does not have intrinsic value like gold; value is derived from market perception and utility. Value is derived from mathematics.
**Whale Counter**
Gold – In total, large institutions and governments collectively own around 40% or more of the world’s gold supply. This figure can fluctuate based on market conditions, investment strategies, and global economic factor. The percentage increases every year as governments accumulate more and more gold.
This is a concern for individual gold holders. This is a centralized asset. Its price is not measured or maintained by the people holding and using gold.
Important note: With gold, no one will ever know exactly how much supply is in existence. Gold is in fake scarcity mode, nor is it near finite.
Monero – It is estimated that around 2,100 wallets hold over 1,000 XMR, which classifies them as significant holders aka Whales. Much bigger Whales typically hold thousands of Monero; these top wallets can hold 5,000 XMR or more. Monero Ownership by Whales Holding over 1,000 XMR is approximately 40% of total XMR supply.
This is a concern for individual Monero holders. This would be not be considered a decentralized asset, if it was up to the founders of cryptocurrency, such as Satoshi Nakamoto (e.g. Nakamoto Coefficient), this asset would be considered centralized.
