Over 5B $XRP Flows Out of Exchanges
In terms of individual exchange contributions, Binance recorded the largest outflows, with approximately 2.206 billion $XRP leaving the exchange during the period.
OKX followed with around 501.51 million $XRP, while Bybit recorded approximately 479.94 million $XRP. Upbit saw outflows of roughly 392.90 million $XRP, and Bitget recorded approximately 243.39 million $XRP.
Upbit’s figures are worth noting because the South Korean exchange holds the largest $XRP reserves among the platforms tracked, yet it recorded one of the smaller outflow totals.
Notably, $XRP outflows dropped in the first half of August before picking up again during the second half of the month. Withdrawals then remained high throughout September and into October, following a relatively quiet summer.
The increase came as market conditions changed heading into the fall. However, the decline from the earlier October peak suggests that the pace of withdrawals has slowed, even though outflows remain elevated.
$XRP Seeing Mixed Demand Metrics
While $XRP exchange outflows spiked, activity on the $XRP Ledger also increased during this period. On Oct. 19, transaction volume on the network reached $49.66 billion, according to Santiment data.
This represented a roughly 6,000% increase from the previous daily average of around $800 million. The surge occurred as $XRP traded near the $1.25 support level before recovering. At press time, $XRP has recovered to trade above $1.30.
However, institutional investment flows reduced during the period. U.S. spot $XRP ETFs recorded approximately $1.84 million in net outflows during the Oct. 12-16 trading week. This ended a streak of 13 consecutive weeks of net inflows.
Although the weekly outflows were small compared with the approximately $1.8 billion these funds have attracted since launch, the reversal suggests that institutional demand for $XRP investment products may have eased temporarily.
Activity among large holders also slowed. According to CryptoQuant data analyzed by on-chain analyst Darkfost, $XRP outflows from Binance to whale-tier wallets fell to a 90-day moving average of approximately $49.7 million as of Oct. 20. This marked the lowest level in five years.
The figure represents a decline from February 2025, when the same measure stood at approximately $3.5 billion while $XRP traded near $3.30. The drop showed a significant reduction in $XRP transfers from Binance to whale-tier wallets over that period.
High Exchange Reserves
The importance of the 5.3 billion $XRP outflows depends on other market indicators. When holders move tokens away from exchanges, they often transfer them to private wallets or custodial accounts.
This reduces the amount of $XRP immediately available for sale on trading platforms and may indicate that holders intend to keep their tokens rather than sell them.
However, total $XRP reserves across major exchanges stood at approximately 11.81 billion tokens as of October 17, close to their highest level in 2026. These large reserves make it harder to see the latest outflows as an undeniably bullish signal, as a substantial amount of $XRP remains on exchanges.
In addition, the decline in whale accumulation to a five-year low and the first weekly net outflows from $XRP ETFs in three months also raise some doubts about the strength of demand.
