Use Case: Whale Detection

Risk Level: Medium Risk Objective: Identify and avoid tokens dominated by large holders

Overview

Whales can manipulate token prices through coordinated buying and selling. This configuration identifies tokens with dangerous ownership concentration and trade size imbalances, helping you avoid becoming exit liquidity for large holders.

Understanding Whale Risk

Risk	Impact
Coordinated Dump	Whales sell simultaneously, crashing price
Price Manipulation	Large trades move price against retail
Exit Liquidity	Retail buys while whales distribute
Wash Trading	Fake volume from whale-controlled wallets

Recommended Filter Configuration

Holder Concentration (Core Whale Detection)


top-1-holder-pct <= 10         // Single whale cap
top-5-holders-pct <= 35        // Top 5 combined cap
top-10-holders-pct <= 50       // Top 10 combined cap
top-25-holders-pct <= 65       // Broader distribution check

Why These Values:

top-1 ≤ 10%: No single entity should control significant supply
top-5 ≤ 35%: Small group coordination becomes difficult
top-10 ≤ 50%: Ensures broader distribution
top-25 ≤ 65%: Validates genuine community

Token Metadata


dev-holdings <= 10             // Developer isn't a hidden whale
dev-deployed-tokens <= 10      // Not a serial whale deployer
mint-authority = 'none'        // Can't mint whale-sized supply

Transaction Percentiles (Trade Size Analysis)


transaction-amount-p50 >= 0.1  // Healthy median trade
transaction-amount-p99 <= 100  // Limit extreme trade sizes
transaction-amount-p99-9 <= 300 // Cap whale trades

Ratio Analysis:


# Healthy: p99 should be < 50× median (p50)
# Warning: p99 > 100× median indicates whale domination

Time-Based Metrics (Wallet Diversity)


unique-wallets-24h >= 50       // Many unique traders
buyers-count-24h >= 30         // Diverse buyer base
sellers-count-24h <= 40        // Not mass whale exits
buy-sell-ratio-24h >= 0.9      // Not heavy selling

Base Metrics


current-liquidity >= 50        // Sufficient depth for whale trades

Complete Configuration


# === WHALE DETECTION CONFIGURATION ===
 
# Holder Concentration (Primary)
top-1-holder-pct: <= 10
top-5-holders-pct: <= 35
top-10-holders-pct: <= 50
top-25-holders-pct: <= 65
 
# Token Metadata
dev-holdings: <= 10
dev-deployed-tokens: <= 10
mint-authority: 'none'
 
# Transaction Percentiles
transaction-amount-p50: >= 0.1
transaction-amount-p99: <= 100
transaction-amount-p99-9: <= 300
 
# Time-Based (Wallet Diversity)
unique-wallets-24h: >= 50
buyers-count-24h: >= 30
sellers-count-24h: <= 40
buy-sell-ratio-24h: >= 0.9
 
# Base Metrics
current-liquidity: >= 50

Whale Warning Signs

Concentration Red Flags

Metric	Warning Level	Critical Level
top-1-holder-pct	> 20%	> 40%
top-5-holders-pct	> 50%	> 70%
top-10-holders-pct	> 65%	> 85%

Transaction Pattern Red Flags

Pattern	What It Means
p99 > 100× median	Whale trades dominate volume
p99.9 > 10% of liquidity	Single trades can crash price
Few unique wallets + high volume	Wash trading likely
Many sells from few wallets	Whale distribution in progress

Behavioral Red Flags

Signal	Indication
Sudden concentration increase	Whales accumulating
Sellers count >> Buyers count	Distribution phase
Volume spikes with few wallets	Manipulated activity

Advanced Whale Analysis

Concentration-to-Liquidity Ratio

Calculate: largest_holder_value / liquidity


# If top holder can drain X% of liquidity in one sell:
# < 10%: Safe
# 10-30%: Moderate risk
# > 30%: High manipulation risk

Transaction Diversity Score

Compare median (p50) to extreme trades (p99):


p99 / p50 ratio:
< 20×:  Healthy distribution
20-50×: Some whale presence
50-100×: Whale dominated
> 100×: Extreme concentration

Configuration Variations

Ultra-Strict Anti-Whale

For maximum protection against whale manipulation:


top-1-holder-pct: <= 5
top-5-holders-pct: <= 25
top-10-holders-pct: <= 40
unique-wallets-24h: >= 100
buyers-count-24h: >= 50
transaction-amount-p99: <= 50

Trade-off: Very few tokens will qualify

Balanced Anti-Whale

Reasonable protection while maintaining opportunities:


top-1-holder-pct: <= 15
top-5-holders-pct: <= 45
top-10-holders-pct: <= 60
unique-wallets-24h: >= 30
transaction-amount-p99: <= 150

New Token Whale Filter

For newer tokens where some concentration is expected:


top-1-holder-pct: <= 25
top-5-holders-pct: <= 55
pool-age: <= 86400             # Less than 1 day old
unique-wallets-1h: >= 10       # Use shorter timeframe

Combining with Other Filters

Whale Detection + Scam Protection


# Scam Protection Base
mint-authority: 'none'
freeze-authority: 'none'
permanent-delegate: false
 
# Whale Detection
top-1-holder-pct: <= 10
top-5-holders-pct: <= 35
transaction-amount-p99: <= 100
unique-wallets-24h: >= 50

Whale Detection + Momentum


# Whale Detection
top-1-holder-pct: <= 15
top-5-holders-pct: <= 40
unique-wallets-1h: >= 10
 
# Momentum
price-change-pct-1h: >= 5
buy-sell-ratio-1h: >= 1.2
volume-1h: >= 30

What This Configuration Catches

Token Type	Caught?
Whale-dominated tokens	❌ Filtered out
Well-distributed tokens	✅ Allowed
Wash trading tokens	❌ Filtered out (low unique wallets)
Retail-driven tokens	✅ Allowed
Pre-dump tokens	❌ Filtered out

Tips for Whale Avoidance

Monitor Changes: Whale concentration can change - what’s safe today may not be tomorrow
Watch Volume Sources: High volume from few wallets = whale manipulation
Check Trade Timing: Coordinated large sells often happen together
Verify Holder Diversity: Cross-reference with on-chain data when possible
Size Positions Appropriately: Even with filters, never over-commit
Use Stop Losses: Protect against unexpected whale dumps

Holder Concentration - Detailed ownership filters
Transaction Percentiles - Trade size analysis
Time-Based Metrics - Unique wallet tracking

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