Rising whale activity is unfolding alongside falling exchange balances, pointing to movement rather than distribution by major holders.
XRP’s on-chain activity took a sudden turn early this week as large-value transfers on the XRP Ledger jumped to a three-month high, according to new data from Santiment.
The rise in $100,000-plus transactions points to growing involvement from large holders at a time when the Ripple token’s price is pulling back, setting the stage for wider price movement in the days ahead.
Santiment said on January 8 that whale-sized XRP transfers climbed from 2,170 on Monday to 2,802 the following day, the highest daily count since October. The analytics firm warned that price movement is likely to be more erratic than usual when large holders become this active.
That behavior stands out because it contrasts with what is happening on exchanges. Separate data shared by CryptoQuant contributor CryptoOnchain showed XRP reserves on Binance falling to about 2.6 billion tokens, the lowest level since January 2024. Since late 2025, balances on the exchange have dropped from roughly 3.25 billion XRP, a shift often linked to holders moving coins into self-custody rather than preparing to sell.
Meanwhile, Arab Chain added another layer to the picture, with the platform’s analysts pointing out that whale flows to Binance have been trending lower since mid-December 2025, after peaking above 70% of total inflows in November and early December. Whales now make up about 60% of XRP deposits to the exchange, while retail participation has stayed fairly steady. Historically, according to the analysts, fewer whale deposits suggest less immediate selling interest from large players.
The data has come at a time when XRP is becoming a major talking point in broader markets. On January 6, CNBC’s Power Lunch called it the “hottest crypto trade” of 2026, pointing to heavy interest from investors seeking bigger percentage moves than Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) after strong ETF inflows late last year.
At the markets, XRP was trading around $2.13 at the time of this writing, after a 6% drop in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The token briefly touched the upper end of its weekly range around $2.40 earlier this week before sellers pushed it lower, in line with a softer session across the wider crypto market.
Zooming out, XRP is still up about 16% in the last seven days and nearly 14% over the past two weeks. Monthly gains sit just above 3%, while the yearly figure remains slightly negative.
Analysts are watching key support near $2.27, with a sustained hold above that level viewed as critical for maintaining bullish momentum. Some chartists point to a bullish setup on the XRP/BTC pairing not seen since 2018, suggesting a potential shift in relative strength. For now, rising whale transfers paired with falling exchange balances suggest positioning rather than panic, even as short-term price swings remain likely.
