A notable increase in non-zero wallets and whale transactions has marked the ongoing impressive XRP price surge.

Over the past two months, non-empty XRP wallets have grown by 511,430, while whale transactions exceeding $100,000 reached 2,365. These improved on-chain metrics emerged amid XRP’s ongoing attempts to break into a price discovery phase, reaching a 7-year high of $3.39 yesterday.

Although the price has since retraced to $3.33 at this time, it still shows an 8.70% increase over the past 24 hours. Over the past week, XRP has gained 45.28%, reinforcing its bullish momentum.

In light of this price surge, Santiment data shows rising whale transactions and a sharp increase in non-empty wallets. This suggests large-scale investor interest and new retail participants are driving the movement.

Whale Activity at a Six-Week High

According to a Santiment post on X, whale transactions above $100,000 have surged, indicating heightened large-scale investor activity. A notable spike recorded 2,365 whale transactions within just an eight-hour window, the highest since December 3.

Meanwhile, XRP’s total number of non-empty wallets has increased by 511,430 over the past two months. The current holder count of XRP stands at 5.93 million, indicating either new retail participation.

Price Projections for XRP Amid Whale Activities

Adding to the bullish narrative, an analysis shared by Ali Martinez highlights a powerful breakout from a symmetrical triangle pattern that formed since 2018.

This pattern, consisting of lower highs and higher lows, indicates a prolonged period of price compression. Breakouts from symmetrical triangles often lead to substantial price moves.

According to Martinez, the measured move target from this breakout suggests a potential XRP price rise to $15. If achieved, this would represent a 350.45% increase from the current price level of $3.33.

Earlier, Martinez had set a price target of $10 for XRP, taking a long-term view. In particular, he confirmed that he opened a long position at $2.48. The analyst noted that while buying at $3 could still be viable, lower entry points would yield greater returns.

While he acknowledged the possibility of a retracement to the breakout zone around $2.40, he indicated that he would consider adding to his position if the price reached that level.

Meanwhile, Martinez emphasized monitoring the market with stop-loss strategy adjustments as the situation develops.

Ripple CTO David Schwartz responds as the Ripple stablecoin RLUSD spikes 6% on the back of the recent XRP price rally. 

Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, recently experienced a notable price surge, temporarily climbing to $1.04, then further to $1.06, before settling at $1.02. The fluctuation coincided with XRP’s strong performance, as the cryptocurrency surged past $3, gaining 31% over five days. 

Ripple CTO Responds to RLUSD Price Spike 

Notably, this behavior was observed on XPMarket, a platform that tracks data on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), with its CEO Artur Kirjakulov spotlighting it on X. In response, Ripple CTO David Schwartz addressed the anomaly, attributing it to thin market dynamics on decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

Schwartz explained that the rise in XRP’s price could temporarily pull RLUSD’s value higher in illiquid markets. He emphasized that such fluctuations occur when XRP’s value adjusts faster than offers on the RLUSD/XRP trading pairs can stabilize. 

My bet is that it's looking at a thin XRP/RLUSD market only. When the price of XRP goes up, it will temporarily drag the price of RLUSD up with it until offers on that market can re-adjust. (And vice-versa if XRP's price goes down.)

— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) January 16, 2025

Notably, such a mismatch leads to short-term deviations until the market realigns. The Ripple CTO also noted that the reverse could happen if XRP’s price drops, potentially dragging RLUSD down momentarily.

Further Details  

Meanwhile, Mayukha Vadari, a senior software engineer at RippleX, questioned XPMarket’s methodology for calculating RLUSD prices. She asked whether XPMarket used XRP/RLUSD pairs or pairs involving other stablecoins.  

Kirjakulov clarified that their calculations exclusively rely on DEX trading data. He explained that XPMarket does not track centralized exchanges listed on aggregators like CoinMarketCap, as these platforms are less popular among the broader crypto community. 

Only DEX, as those CEXs on CMC are very exotic, not actually used by wider crypto community, so we don't track those. Nor we received any requests to track them. But having them would surely keep the price at 1, as we use weighted average. Like with XPM token.

At some point,…

— Dr. Artur Kirjakulov (@Kirjakulov) January 16, 2025

Notably, the XPMarket CEO further emphasized that their pricing mechanism uses a weighted average based solely on DEX activity.  

According to him, XPMarket calculates RLUSD’s price by first determining its value in XRP. It then multiplies this value by XRP’s weighted average price from CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko. Kirjakulov noted that this approach results in RLUSD appearing more expensive on DEXs during periods of market fluctuation.  

Meanwhile, Kirjakulov admitted that XPMarket experienced a temporary issue with its logger, which initially showed RLUSD spiking to $1.05. However, he clarified that the real maximum observed on the DEX was $1.025.  

RLUSD Stabilizes

Notably, minor price increases in RLUSD such as this could create arbitrage opportunities for traders. If RLUSD traded at $1.06 on a DEX while remaining at $1 elsewhere, arbitrageurs could profit by buying RLUSD cheaply and selling it at the inflated price. For instance, purchasing 500,000 RLUSD for $500,000 and selling it at $1.06 could yield a $30,000 profit.  

Following the spike, RLUSD’s price has since stabilized at $1 on XPMarket, its intended peg. Notably, price tracking platforms like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko did not record the anomalous increase, as these platforms rely on broader data sources, including CEXs.  

It bears mentioning that amid the excitement surrounding RLUSD’s launch in December 2024, Schwartz had earlier cautioned investors against speculative behavior. 

He emphasized that the stablecoin was not designed as a quick-profit asset. Despite these warnings, some investors incurred losses during the launch by overpaying for RLUSD in XRP.  

Rajat Soni, a finance expert with over a decade of experience, took to X to criticize what he sees as “unrealistic” XRP price predictions.

Specifically, he called out widespread projections of XRP reaching $100 or even $1,000 per coin in the current market cycle. Soni labeled these predictions as absurd, suggesting that those making such claims might have an “undiagnosed mental disability.”

Putting XRP Predictions into Perspective

Soni backed up his criticisms with market cap analysis. He pointed out that if XRP were to reach $100 per coin, its market capitalization would balloon to approximately $10 trillion, a figure he believes is out of touch with reality. 

Furthermore, he pointed out that if XRP were to hit $1,000, its market cap would skyrocket to $100 trillion, a number he mocked as laughable.

Rather than focusing on these highly inflated predictions, Soni, who identifies as a Bitcoin maxi, advised investors to stick with more established cryptocurrencies. Specifically, he recommended Bitcoin as a more reliable investment. Accordingly, he labeled XRP as a “distraction.”

Notably, Soni’s remark comes amid XRPs’ attempt to break its all-time high, building on the momentum that took the price above $3 two days ago. At press time, XRP is trading at $3.32 with a market cap of $191 billion.

This ongoing price movement has emboldened some XRP supporters to revise their outlooks, projecting even higher values for the asset.

Popular Claims of XRP to $100

Indeed, some have suggested that XRP could reach well beyond $100 in this cycle. Meanwhile, others who believe in the $100 outlook have remained silent on the timeline.

For instance, financial pundit Linda Jones believes a $100 XRP price is attainable in the future, but she did not specifically suggest it would happen this year. On the other hand, analyst Javon Mark has argued for a $200 XRP price this cycle, citing what he describes as the “biggest coil pattern.”

Meanwhile, some pro-XRP analysts within the community often caution against such ambitious outlooks. They acknowledge that such projections are unlikely for this cycle and warn against inflated expectations. 

Nonetheless, these projections continue to gain traction in the XRP community, largely due to XRP’s historical performance.

Essentially, Soni’s latest commentary only adds fuel to the growing debate surrounding XRP’s future price. It’s worth noting, however, that he is a Bitcoin maximalist with a long history of criticizing alternative cryptocurrencies like XRP.

XRP Army Reacts to Soni’s Claims

XRP supporters have not stayed quiet in response to Soni’s criticism. Some argue that the expectation of XRP reaching $100 is no more outlandish than Bitcoin maximalists’ predictions of all the world’s assets being repriced in Bitcoin.

When asked about the potential for XRP this cycle, Soni reiterated his view that the asset is a “shitcoin” and predicted it will eventually go to zero.

However, many in the XRP community view his latest remarks as rooted in jealousy, citing XRP’s recent outperformance relative to Bitcoin.

As the price of XRP approaches a new all-time high, market commentators are urging holders to reflect on how financially free they could become holding 10,000 tokens.

On Wednesday, January 15, XRP recaptured the $3 mark after trading below it for exactly seven years. With XRP trading at $3.20 at press time, the third-biggest cryptocurrency is just an 18% rally away from shattering its $3.84 all-time high.

Amid this price performance, Edo Farina, CEO of Alpha Lions Academy, reminded XRP enthusiasts of the significance of holding 10,000 tokens. He believes that those holding this amount of XRP or more have the best shot at financial freedom.

 In his words, “If you’ve accumulated 10,000 XRP, it’s hard to understand how free you’ll be.”

Accumulating 10,000 XRP Today Compared to Before

Recall that on New Year’s Eve, Farina warned that not holding at least 10,000 XRP tokens could be a “lifetime mistake.”

His statement suggests that, although XRP is relatively inexpensive, holding 10,000 tokens could lead to substantial financial gains. At the time, acquiring 10,000 XRP required an investment of about $20,700.

However, accumulating 10,000 XRP now costs $32,000 at current prices. Meanwhile, 12 weeks ago, the crypto community still had the opportunity to buy 10,000 XRP cheaply at around $4,900. Since then, the price has gone up over 5X.

What 10,000 XRP Could Be Worth

Farina’s view on the requirement rests on the popular belief that the unit price of XRP could surpass $100 someday, a target that many have deemed unfeasible, given market cap implications.

Influencers like The Crypto Asset Guy have also argued for the necessity of holding 10,000 XRP. He agrees with projections that XRP could reach $100 in the future, making such holders millionaires.

Likewise, wealth mentor Linda Jones predicts XRP could reach $100 per token in the future, urging investors to buy now before it’s too late.

She highlighted the sharp rise in XRP’s price, noting that a $100 investment that once bought 400 tokens now only buys fewer than 50. She anticipates that $100 might only purchase a single XRP token in the future.

Emphatically, should XRP trade at $100 per token, a portfolio of 10,000 tokens would be worth $1 million.

How Much of the XRP Army Holds 10K Tokens?

Although XRP was once relatively cheaper, some retail investors still find such investments out of reach. As XRP’s price continues to climb, many more are getting priced out.

For context, wallets holding below 10,000 XRP account for the largest pool of XRP holders. In particular, of the 5.93 million XRP holders, a staggering 5.64 million wallets hold below 10,000 XRP. 

Meanwhile, pundits like Farina continue to see this quantity as a key requirement for investment success.