On-chain large-scale fluctuations always spark discussions. Recently, a Whale swallowed 100 million USD worth of ETH in one bite, instantly causing a stir in various communities. Some are ecstatic—"The buy the dip opportunity has arrived, hurry and enter a position!"—while others are on high alert—"This is a harvesting signal, run away fast!" Listening to the clash between these two voices, one can feel that the battle between retail investors and Whales in the crypto market has never ceased.

So the question arises: with this on-chain anomaly in front of us, should we follow or should we avoid? This seemingly simple choice actually requires us to break down the underlying logic of Whale operations.

The contradiction between whales and retail investors can be summed up in one sentence - the capital sizes are unequal. Whales holding large amounts of capital have the ability to manipulate market sentiment in the short term. Their common strategy is as follows: first, they invest a lot of money to buy in, pushing the price up. When retail investors see that "even the whales are buying the dip," they all follow suit and chase the price higher, causing it to keep soaring. Once the excitement has peaked, the whales turn around and sell off. This process sounds simple, but it is a trap for retail investors.

What's even more ruthless is that whales usually don't just play in the spot market. This time, while buying 100 million USD worth of ETH, they are likely already opening long contracts in the derivatives market - pushing the price up in the spot market, and the contracts follow suit. When the timing is right, they sell the spot while closing the contracts, directly doubling their profits. And what about the retail investors chasing the highs? They become the last ones to take over the positions. This kind of linked operation takes advantage of information asymmetry and psychological differences. Retail investors get excited seeing large buy orders, unaware that these whales have already devised an arbitrage plan.