XRP whales have procured a whopping 550 million XRP in two weeks as smaller addresses sell off their bags, fueling speculation of a retail shakeout.
Amid the market downturn, XRP is witnessing mixed sentiments across different tiers of investors. The behavior exhibited by these addresses has compounded speculation around a retail shakeout by institutions.
Retail Investors Distribute 8M XRP
XRP Liquidity, a community-based account tracking Ripple’s ODL operations and XRPL wallet activity, is at the forefront of this speculation. Citing data from Rich-List.info, the account recently revealed plans to prove the trend of institutional buyups and retail dumps.
In a disclosure on May 16, the account showed that investors holding between 20 and 10,000 XRP had a cumulative balance of 2.274 billion XRP.
Since January 2024 down 98.63M XRP from the 20 to 100K Group. https://t.co/02jjyKjllr pic.twitter.com/3dsAXJ8cxV
— XRP_LIQUIDITY (@XRPwallets) May 16, 2024
However, the latest data sourced by Rich List confirms that this balance has reduced to 2.266 billion tokens. This indicates that these wallets have distributed over 8 million XRP since May.
Addresses Holding 20 to 10K XRP | Rich List
The ongoing distribution campaign comes at a time when XRP’s price has collapsed 15.3%.XRP Liquidity further suggested that addresses holding 20 to 100,000 XRP distributed 98.36 million tokens from January to May.
Whales Procure 550M XRP
Meanwhile, in a contrasting trend, whale addresses, specifically those holding between 100 million to 500 million XRP, have been on a massive accumulation spree despite the market challenges.
At the time of the May 16 disclosure, these addresses held 11.376 billion XRP. However, the latest data reveals these addresses now boast a balance of 11.579 billion tokens. This figure reveals that these wallets procured about 203 million XRP in six weeks.
In addition, wallets holding between 1 million and 20 million XRP have accumulated 347 million XRP over the last six weeks. Cumulatively, investors holding 10 million to 20 million and the ones with 100 million to 500 million have amassed 550 million XRP since May 16.
Whale XRP Addresses | Rich List
A Bullish Trend
With this purchase spree among whales coming at a time when smaller addresses have sold off over 8 million XRP, the suggestion that institutions might be shaking out retail investors has taken center stage. While this remains speculative, such a trend can be bullish for the market, as it indicates conviction among large investors.
For instance, in a recent report, CryptoQuant confirmed that the recent Bitcoin (BTC) drop had triggered selloffs among less convicted addresses. These addresses, holding between 3 to 6 months, sold off $2.4 billion. However, the trend is bullish, as it ensures the shakeout of less convicted investors, leaving the market healthy.
The same pattern is observed in the XRP market. Nonetheless, this does not only affect retail investors as data shows large investors are also capitulating at a higher pace. Wallets holding 20 million to 100 million XRP have distributed 169 million since May 16.
Interestingly, large whales with 500 million to 1 billion XRP have distributed the most tokens. These investors have moved out 1.23 billion XRP in six weeks. Meanwhile, XRP’s price has stabilized at the $0.43 level. It is currently trading for $0.4388 amid a 0.85% gain this morning. XRP is up 4.66% in the last three days.
