XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) fell to $0.99 on August 11 for the first time in almost two years, after an exploit on the Coreum bridge drained close to 200,000 XRP from the XRP Ledger in 97 minutes.
However, large holders added more than 380 million XRP in the week to August 9, worth close to $390 million at today’s price. They have been buying at that pace for months, despite the XRP price declining.
So why do whales keep buying XRP as it drops, and does any of it point to an upcoming rally?
XRP Whales Bought 380 Million Tokens in a Week
Large holders added more than 380 million XRP in the week to August 9, and that pushed their combined balances past 8 billion tokens, worth roughly $8.2 billion at today’s XRP price, according to Santiment.
However, whale activity that week was not a one-off. Wallets holding at least a million XRP have grown by 32 over the past three months, to roughly 2,033, while XRP’s market cap fell 29% over the same period. So the decline has been adding large holders instead of shaking them out.
Moreover, whales are pulling their XRP off exchanges entirely. According to CryptoQuant, 81% of all XRP withdrawn from Binance on August 3 went to large holders, against 72% across all centralised exchanges. Coins sitting on an exchange can be sold in seconds, but coins in a private wallet have to be sent back first, and nobody does that in a panic.
Why XRP Whales Are Buying What Everyone Else Is Selling
The average XRP holder paid about $1.48 for their coins, according to Glassnode, which leaves roughly 60% of the circulating supply sitting at a loss. That is about 36.8 billion XRP, worth close to $37.5 billion at today’s XRP price, held by people who bought higher and want their money back. Every coin they sell needs a buyer on the other side, and whales have been taking that side all year.
Moreover, the same thing is happening across Bitcoin and Ethereum, where the biggest holders are buying while prices trade near or below what the average holder paid. According to CryptoQuant, this “lowers downside pressure and is consistent with the final phase of the cycle’s decline.”
Whales can also afford to be early in a way retail traders cannot, because they build positions over months and years. Being down for another quarter is not a problem if the position is meant to run for three.
However, the strongest reason is that the XRP Ledger is busier than the price suggests. Active addresses climbed from 23,642 on August 1 to 43,543 on August 11, an 84% jump in eleven days. So more people are using the network while fewer are willing to pay up for the token, and whales are betting the XRP price eventually catches up to the usage.
All That Buying Still Hasn’t Lifted the XRP Price
Whales were buying in January when XRP traded near $1.77, again in April at $1.38, in June at $1.28, and through five weeks of buying in July that had it at $1.16. Each one was reported as a bullish signal, and the XRP price was lower every time the next one came around. It now trades near $1.01.
However, nearly 3 billion XRP changed hands around $1.06, according to Glassnode, which is close to $3.2 billion sitting a few cents from break-even. Those holders sell as soon as the price gets back to what they paid, so every recovery attempt runs into the same wall and stalls there.
Moreover, whales are not pushing the price up themselves. CryptoQuant’s 90-day taker cumulative volume delta has drifted to neutral after starting the year with buyers clearly in charge, which means large holders are sitting on bids and waiting for sellers to come to them rather than buying at market.
Traders are also betting against them. Perpetual futures open interest has climbed to 2.74 billion XRP, worth about $2.8 billion, while the price fell. Rising open interest on a falling price points to new short positions rather than holders giving up, and according to CryptoQuant, the market may take one more leg down before a floor holds.
Is a Bull Rally Coming for XRP?
A rally is possible, but the XRP price needs a monthly close above $1.06 first. The next big pockets of supply are at $1.35 and then $1.64 according to Glassnode, so clearing $1.06 would open a run of roughly 32% to the first and 61% to the second, rather than just another failed bounce.
The monthly Tom DeMark Sequential indicator has also flashed a buy signal on XRP. Per DeMARK Analytics, the same signal came before a 1,074% rally in April 2020 and a 973% rally in August 2022. However, its most recent call was a sell signal in April 2025, and XRP fell 57% after it.
So the whale buying is worth something, but only if the sellers above $1.06 get cleared out. Until that happens, the accumulation just keeps absorbing supply without moving the price anywhere.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks