XRP recovered slightly by Tuesday’s close after falling the day before, trading near $1.31 as traders assessed fresh signs of whale accumulation amid lingering selling pressure.
In a Tuesday post on X, Santiment reported that wallets holding at least 10 million XRP now control 46.87 billion tokens, about 68.5% of the cryptocurrency’s supply. That marks the largest share this group has held since November 2022.
“ The key signal is that these massive holders have kept increasing exposure even while XRP struggles near $1.29,” Santiment wrote , suggesting that large investors remain willing to accumulate despite the token’s weakness.
The figures mark a shift from an earlier warning by analyst Ali Martinez, who cited a decline in wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP, from 351 to 339 since November 2022. He also noted that exchange balances rose from 11.003 billion to about 11.05 billion XRP, which could partly explain the ongoing price stagnation. Martinez warned that continued selling by large holders could send XRP toward $0.98.
However, Santiment’s latest figures suggest that accumulation among the largest wallets may be strengthening even as the price struggles.
“Large stakeholders accumulating through weakness suggests conviction remains strong beneath the price action,” Santiment stated.
The analytics platform identified $1.30 as the immediate pivot, with $1.90 as a stronger level to confirm a potential recovery.
Meanwhile, CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost reported a sharp drop in XRP derivatives exposure, potentially easing some of the pressure from leveraged positions. According to him, Binance open interest fell to $445 million, below its 180-day average of approximately $460 million.
Since September 22, the metric has declined nearly 28%, while XRP’s price has dropped 17% over the same period. He attributed the decline partly to falling prices, which reduce the value of outstanding positions, and to liquidations triggered during the sell-off.
“ This deleveraging dynamic is a rather positive signal as it suggests that pressure on XRP futures is gradually easing,” the analyst said .
Moreover, Darkfost cited previous episodes in which falling open interest preceded substantial XRP rallies, suggesting a similar scenario could unfold.
“ We saw this in mid-September, when XRP gained 32% in the following period, and after the mid-August episode, which was followed by a 72% rally.” He added.
Martinez also identified a potential technical catalyst for a rebound. The analyst said the TD Sequential indicator had flashed a buy signal on XRP’s three-day chart, noting that the previous three comparable signals preceded rebounds of 31%, 24% and 18%. However, the setup depends on XRP holding its support level.
“Hold it, and XRP could rebound toward $1.40. Lose it while whales continue taking profits, and $0.98 could be next,” Martinez said.
Elsewhere, analyst Joep Gerla highlighted XRP’s prolonged consolidation as a possible precursor to a larger advance. He compared the current price structure with previous consolidation periods that preceded rallies of 63,617% in 2017–2018, 1,687% in 2020–2021 and 901% in 2024–2025.
“XRP has been in prolonged consolidation, a structure that has preceded major expansion phases in previous cycles,” Gerla wrote. “ The edge goes to those who stay patient before the breakout.”
At press time, XRP was trading at $1.31, up 2.13% in the past 24 hours.
