Whale Alerts
Whale alerts detect stealth large-player activity — situations where an unusually large volume is transacted in a short window while the price barely moves. This is the footprint of sophisticated accumulation (buying quietly) or distribution (selling quietly).
There are 3 Whale alert types.
How whale detection works
When a large player buys or sells a significant position, they deliberately avoid moving the price — they spread orders across many small trades to minimise slippage. The result is abnormally high volume with minimal price impact: a spike in traded size without a corresponding spike in price movement.
Coin Sniffer detects this anomaly by comparing the current 5-minute volume against the recent hourly baseline and checking that the price impact during that window remained small. Only liquid markets with sufficient ongoing volume qualify — this filters out thin pairs where any normal trade would show as anomalous.
Once a whale anomaly is confirmed, the direction is classified using the 15-minute trend and momentum indicators:
Whale Detector
A whale anomaly is confirmed, but no clear directional bias is present. The 15m trend is flat and momentum indicators are neutral.
Use Whale Detector as an early heads-up: something unusually large is happening, but the direction is not yet clear.
Whale Accumulation (bullish)
A whale anomaly is confirmed and the contextual trend is bullish — either the 15m trend is positive, or momentum indicators lean bullish.
Interpretation: large players are quietly buying while price drifts upward or consolidates. Bullish bias.
Whale Distribution (bearish)
A whale anomaly is confirmed and the contextual trend is bearish — either the 15m trend is negative, or momentum indicators lean bearish.
Interpretation: large players are quietly selling into a drift down or consolidation. Bearish bias.
Summary
| Type | Anomaly detected | Directional context |
|---|---|---|
| Whale Detector | ✅ | Neutral — direction unclear |
| Whale Accumulation | ✅ | Bullish |
| Whale Distribution | ✅ | Bearish |
TIP
Whale alerts are most useful as a confluence signal alongside Surge or Scout. A Whale Accumulation alert followed by a Scout Bull is a strong setup: large players positioned first, then momentum began accelerating.
WARNING
Not every whale anomaly leads to a significant move. Whales also accumulate as part of long-term positioning that may not play out for hours or days. Don't trade whale alerts in isolation.