The biggest holders of XRP are increasing their holdings even as its market value has fallen massively since last year.
According to crypto analytics platform Santiment, wallets holding at least 1 million XRP increased by 32 over the past three months. This happened while XRP’s market capitalization fell by about 29%.
Specifically, the number of wallets holding 1 million or more XRP has risen from around 2,006 to 2,038. This figure suggests that large investors are becoming more confident in XRP amid the declining prices.
XRP Whales Keep Buying Despite Price Drop
Notably, XRP is now trading around $1.01, down from the $1.40–$1.50 range where it traded three months ago. At the same time, the number of wallets holding at least 1 million XRP has continued to rise.
Santiment says this suggests that some large investors have continued buying XRP instead of selling during the downturn.
While this does not guarantee a recovery in XRP’s price, the rising number of large wallets shows that major XRP holders have not been selling in large numbers despite the recent price decline.
XRP’s Institutional Growth Continues
The increase in large XRP holders comes as the XRP Ledger expands beyond its original focus on payments.
Santiment highlighted RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar-backed stablecoin, as an important institutional product. Ripple is also building payment, custody, and tokenization services on the XRP Ledger.
Ripple has recently invested in ZILO and Licuido to support regulated funds and improve the use of assets on the XRP Ledger. Messari has also noted the network’s growing use for tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, and institutional finance.
What Could XRP Whale Growth Mean?
The rise in wallets holding 1 million or more XRP, despite the drop in market value, could mean that large investors are buying during the downturn.
If this trend continues, it could support the case for an XRP price recovery. For context, XRP is down more than 73% from its $3.66 peak, which it hit in July 2025. The price briefly fell to $0.9916 yesterday, marking its first time below $1 since 2024.
Despite the major price drawdown, the recent data suggests that whales are focusing on the long term rather than short-term price changes. For XRP supporters, this could be a positive sign.
On-Chain Activity Surges as Exchange Flows Collapse
On August 5, XRP processed more than 2.8 million transactions—an 86% weekly increase and more than 81% above its 30-day average. Active accounts also rose by more than 5% over the past 30 days, signaling stronger network usage.
Meanwhile, exchange activity has fallen sharply. Binance deposit addresses dropped about 96% compared with their monthly and quarterly averages, while XRP deposits and withdrawals fell 79% and 85%, respectively, from their 90-day averages. This suggests that recent price weakness may not be driven by heavy selling into exchanges.
Leverage is also cooling. Open interest fell from $403 million on July 28 to $391 million on August 8, while the leverage ratio declined from 0.190 to 0.150. About $3.4 million in long positions were liquidated on August 7 as XRP briefly approached $1.02.
Market watchers note that rising network activity, declining exchange flows, and reduced leverage point to a potential local bottom.