Why Whales Sold 440M Coins in a Month Despite ETF Launch Buzz

In a major XRP news today, whales are betting against XRP ETF launch anticipation and gradually liquidating their holdings. On-chain data confirms 440 million XRP were dumped by whales in the last 30 days, causing the price to slump below $2.85 again in the last 24 hours.

Today’s Big XRP News: Whales Dump 440 Million Ripple Coins

Whales holding 1 million to 10 million XRP have apparently sold 440 million coins in a month, according to Santiment data shared by Ali Martinez on October 9. Whales have liquidated their holdings worth over $1.3 billion in the last few weeks, maintaining their negative sentiment.

The U.S. government shutdown raised uncertainty further after the SEC kept delaying its decision. Notably, six spot XRP ETF decisions are due between October 18 and 25, with Grayscale’s ETF having the earliest deadline.

While the Crypto Funds Flow data by CoinShares revealed institutions are buying more XRP amid ETF anticipation, whales defy the sentiment. As CoinGape reported, CryptoQuant’s XRP Whale Flow 30-DMA data signals that whale flow is still negative amid renewed distribution pressure.

Why Whales Are Selling Coins as ETF Launch Nears?

Amid the retail FUD, profit booking by Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen in July and the delay in spot ETFs approval are the primary factors behind a lack of support from whales.

Meanwhile, Whale Order and Large Trades data on the K-line chart indicated massive sell orders above $3 across every spot and perpetual pairs at Binance, Coinbase, and OKX.

Also, whales have now opened short positions between $2.90 and $2.96. Whales and large trades are around $2.80, which coincides with the UTXO Realized Price Distribution level. This indicates holders are defending a drop below the level.

XRP News: Price Moving Range-Bound

XRP price is moving sideways within a falling wedge pattern in the daily timeframe, with analysts suggesting a breakout could bring a structural shift to trigger a quick rally towards $4. Lark Davis said Ripple’s coin “keeps getting smashed down on attempts to break the descending resistance line.”

However, a break below $2.80 could result in a major slump as traders brace for further pullback. Notably, the 50-MA crossed below the 100-MA amid the muted price action in Ripple coin.

XRP price fell over 2% in the past 24 hours, with the price currently trading at $2.82. The 24-hour low and high were $2.82 and $2.92, respectively. Trading volume dropped further by 36% in the last 24 hours, indicating traders leaning towards the downside.

Derivatives markets showed mixed sentiment, according to CoinGlass data. At the time of writing, the total XRP futures open interest dropped 0.47% to $8.45 billion in the last 24 hours.

However, XRP futures OI on CME climbed more than 3% and dropped 1% on Binance. An XRP ETF approval could only help bring a rebound.