XRP whales accumulated more than 880 million XRP despite the asset trading sideways around $2.14 last month. According to Ledger data, most of the tokens were sent to personally controlled wallets.
XRP, the native token of Ripple’s ledger, is drawing the attention of whales despite its lackluster price performance. In April, active whale accumulation resumed, drawing out over 880M tokens out of exchanges and into personally controlled wallets. XRP wallets with balances over 10,000 coins have grown in the past month. According to Santiment data, the past month saw gradual inflows into whale wallets, awaiting more active price action for XRP. There are now over 300K addresses holding over 10,000 XRP, showing dedication and expectations that the asset may still outperform.
Addresses with 100M to 1B XRP were especially active, buying another 350M coins in the past month. One single whale bought over 57M XRP from the open market on Bitstamp. Another whale recently moved 70M XRP between anonymous addresses. The holding and usage of XRP have not been linked to any promised utility. However, reasons to accumulate include expectations of an ETF launch, as multiple XRP funds are currently in the review stage. Demand for XPR also followed the general crypto recovery, as BTC led the way.
XRP holds steady above $2 with renewed confidence
The other potential reason for buying XRP was the prediction that the asset could become a part of the US strategic crypto reserve. For now, there is no real progress along that line. Recently, it became known that an employee of Ballard, Ripple’s consultant, was trying to pressure US President Donald Trump to include XRP in the eventual reserve. The recent accumulation raised doubts about the end goal, ranging from general speculation to insider knowledge of future demand for the token. XRP remains liquid and widely traded, but it has not seen the supply crunch as predicted.
Meanwhile, XRP has since recovered and held above $2, but has so far failed to rally to a new peak. The token benefits from expectations of renewed altcoin strength, but still reflects the skepticism of traders. XRP activity remains relatively low, with open interest at just $1.5B, due to an overall lack of direction and long-term sideways trading. For now, traders remain cautious, accumulating their long positions at the $2 support level.
Despite this, both crowd sentiment and smart money are bullish on XRP, due to its prominence as a widely traded altcoin. XRP leveraged positions go long at the $2 range, with 70% of open interest held as long positions. While holding a stable downside, XRP predictions still await a new all-time high if the 2025 bull market resumes. Interest in XRP grew as Ripple is still making aggressive attempts to acquire stablecoin issuer Circle.