Santiment Feed's analysis indicates a notable trend on the XRP Ledger: the number of whale and shark wallets has decreased over the past two months, while their collective holdings have reached a seven-year high.
Large accounts, defined as those holding more than 100 million XRP, have seen a 20.6% reduction in their numbers over the last eight weeks. This equates to a loss of 569 wallets since late September, a contraction that Santiment has identified as one of the fastest recorded for this tier.
Despite the decrease in wallet count, these high-value XRP accounts now collectively hold 48 billion XRP. This level of accumulation has not been seen since the end of the 2018 fiscal year. The data suggests a consolidation of supply for XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, involving both whales and short-term holders. However, whales appear to be actively purchasing during this bear market.
XRP Whales Numbers Decline While Token Accumulation Trends Reverse
According to Santiment data, three months ago, when XRP was trading around $2.85, the number of wallets holding over 100 million XRP exceeded 2,000. At that time, their total holdings within this tier amounted to approximately 47.7 billion coins.
🐳 XRP Ledger is seeing a fascinating trend of whale & shark wallets shrinking in number, but continuing to grow in coins held. There are -20.6% less 100M+ $XRP wallets compared to 8 weeks ago, but they still own a 7-year high 48B coins collectively.
🔗 https://t.co/vvuvnoGOQJ pic.twitter.com/UKFTmUofmg
During XRP's all-time high period in July, when the token reached $3.65 amidst a mid-2025 market bull run, there were over 2,700 large wallets. However, their holdings were more dispersed and did not exhibit the same level of concentration observed today.
Within the month of November, addresses holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP sold more than 2.20 billion XRP. The tokens offloaded during this period were valued at over $4.11 billion, based on market prices at the time of the sell-off.
Concurrently, accumulation activity within the XRP ecosystem has surged following the debut of spot XRP ETFs in the United States. The launch of Canary Capital's spot ETF on November 13th initiated a wave of new funds trading in the West, including offerings from Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, and Grayscale.
These ETFs have already garnered $756 million in net inflows and reached a total asset value of $723 million. While ETFs do not explicitly detail the number of whales contributing to net inflows, these figures can partially explain the redistribution among high-value wallet tiers as institutions continue to expand their exposure.
XRP Ledger Processes Over 40,000 Transactions as Binance Reserves Decline
In the final week of November, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) processed more than 40,000 configuration transactions. According to blockchain analyst Vet, these transactions originated from AccountSet and Automated Market Maker Bid operations.
AccountSet transactions are used to modify permissions, multi-signature rules, or AMM preferences. These operations are crucial for institutions preparing custodial accounts, adjusting security protocols, or adding liquidity for new financial products. The surge in these transactions suggests that institutions are reconfiguring their infrastructure in anticipation of increased product flow related to the ETFs.
Furthermore, XRP reserves have been steadily declining on Binance, the world's largest exchange by volume, for nearly two months. Since October 6th, approximately 300 million XRP have been withdrawn from the platform.
The XRP Binance Reserves chart from CryptoQuant indicates that the exchange now holds just over 2.7 billion XRP, marking the lowest level recorded since July 2024.
Price Pullback Sees Token Drop 9% in a Week
Amidst tightening supply concentration, XRP has encountered significant rejection from the $2.50 resistance zone over the past 30 days. The token has subsequently pulled back and is currently trading near $2.00, approximately 10% below its weekly highs and down 1.6% in the last 24 hours.
Any upward retracement is anticipated to face resistance within the 2.2752 to 2.5808 range, a zone where sellers have consistently re-entered the market. According to various XRP enthusiasts, including commentator Egrag Crypto, a decisive move above $2.5808 on strong volumes would be necessary to invalidate the current bearish structure.
The analyst stated, "A Bullish Pennant is forming, and XRP is now trading above the 50 EMA. In 2021, the 50 EMA was brutal resistance. Today, it’s strong support. If BTC dominance peaks, XRP will surge."