XRP, is facing a sharp divergence between retail enthusiasm and whale behavior, just days after the launch of the first U.S. spot XRP ETF.
The token, now the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap at roughly $136 billion, has long held a unique place in the digital asset ecosystem. Born in 2012 as a payments-focused alternative to slow, expensive international bank transfers, XRP has maintained one of crypto’s most loyal communities despite spending years under regulatory pressure.
That pressure reached its peak in December 2020, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Ripple of selling XRP as an unregistered security. After a multi-year legal battle, a federal court ruled in July 2023 that XRP was not a security when traded on exchanges, a decision widely celebrated across the industry and viewed as a major blow to the SEC’s aggressive enforcement campaign.
The ruling paved the way for institutions to re-enter the XRP ecosystem, a shift that has now culminated in one of the most significant regulatory milestones in the asset’s history: the launch of the first spot XRP ETF.
But despite the institutional catalyst, new data shows whales are not buying the rally — they’re selling into it.
Related: Investment firm shuts down XRP army, refuses to make XRP ETF flow monitor
On-chain data shows that large wallets sold heavily into the post-ETF enthusiasm:
“Whales dumped nearly 200 million $XRP in just 48 hours!” said popular crypto trader Ali.
Crypto whales are wallets that hold extremely large amounts of a cryptocurrency, often enough to move markets when they buy or sell. They can be early investors, exchanges, funds, or high-net-worth individuals controlling tens of millions — sometimes billions — in digital assets. Because of their size, whale activity can trigger major price swings, influence trader sentiment.
The selling pressure coincides with a noticeable breakdown in XRP’s technical structure.
Over the past 24 hours, XRP fell 4.3%, dropping from $2.31 to $2.22, carving out a clear lower-highs pattern and confirming near-term bearish momentum.
Crypto trader Tara, a widely followed technical analyst, told her followers that XRP is approaching critical buy zones and that volatility could intensify:
