Short-Term XRP Holders Amass 1,800,000,000 XRP in 2 Days

Short-term XRP holders have accumulated about 1.8 billion tokens within just two days despite the prevalent bearish pressure.

For context, XRP has not fared well since it collapsed from the $3.6 peak in July 2025. Since dropping below this high, XRP has continued to face selling pressure, witnessing lower lows and slipping below the major psychological support levels at $3 and $2. Now, the asset changes hands at around $1.6, down 55% from the July 2025 high.

However, despite these declines, on-chain data indicates that short-term XRP holders who have held for 1 week to 1 month recently accumulated about 1.8 billion XRP, currently worth $2.88 billion, pushing their cumulative balance to 5.272% of the total XRP supply, which translates to 5.266 billion XRP tokens.

Key Points

• XRP has not fared well since July 2025, when it collapsed from the $3.66 peak.
• The price has been on a downward spiral in what appears to be a bearish phase that picked up in Q4 2025, with XRP now down 55% from the July peak.
• Despite the downtrend, short-term XRP holders who have held their balances for 1 week to 1 month recently amassed 1.8 billion XRP within two weeks.
• The recent accumulation event pushed the cumulative balance of this tier of addresses to 5.272% of the total XRP supply, translating to 5.266 billion tokens.

XRP Grapples with Market Struggles

Market commentator Steph (@Steph_iscrypto) highlighted the recent development, citing data from Glassnode’s XRP HODL Waves indicator. Notably, the indicator confirms that short-term XRP holders may be renewing interest in the market despite the ongoing bearish spell.

For context, after the turbulent Q4 2025, which led to a 35% collapse in XRP’s price, XRP embarked on a recovery run at the start of this year, recovering the previous losses and jumping to $2.41 on Jan. 6. However, since then, things have taken a turn for the worse, with XRP already down 13% this year alone, adding to its earlier woes.

Short-Term XRP Holders Renew Interest

While the downtrend has intensified in February, short-term XRP holders appear to have begun showing interest in the market. Specifically, wallets that have held XRP for 1 week to 1 month acquired 1.8 billion XRP worth $2.88 billion on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Interestingly, within this period, XRP collapsed by more than 8% to the $1.6 level.

As a result of the latest accumulation event, this cohort of addresses now hold 5.272% of XRP’s total supply, which translates to about 5.266 billion XRP worth $8.4 billion. Notably, before the recent development, data from Glassnode’s XRP HODL Waves indicator confirms that their balance stood below 2.52% of XRP’s total supply. 

Historical data shows these short-term holders’ reaction to the ongoing downtrend has been erratic. Specifically, after the October 2025 decline, these investors increased their holdings from 3.5% of XRP’s supply in early November 2025 to nearly 7% two weeks later. From here, they gradually emptied their balance until it dropped below 2.52% of XRP’s supply in January 2026. Now, they have begun re-accumulating.

What Could This Mean?

Speaking on the development, Steph asked if these investors know something that public investors have not realized. Notably, this kind of buying often shows that these investors see value at lower levels and expect a rebound. Also, it can help form a temporary price floor should the downturn persist.

However, this group tends to move fast in and out of positions, which makes the signal less reliable for XRP’s long-term direction. While the surge in accumulation points to short-term confidence and a possible bounce, it does not guarantee a lasting recovery.