How XRP Whales Are Trading After The Crypto Market Crash

XRP price saw one of its sharpest drops of the year. It plunged from $2.83 to as low as $1.77 in a matter of hours before bouncing to around $2.44.

Even after that rebound, the token is still down about 14% in 24 hours and nearly 20% weekly. But the data shows this wasn’t a normal sell-off — it was a panic-led, derivatives-driven flush, not real token selling. And now that the XRP price rebound is shaping up, a key group is seen adding to the token stash.

Sponsored

Sponsored

Panic-Led Derivatives Crash, Not Spot Selling

On-chain data confirms that this was not a wave of investors dumping tokens.

Over the past month, XRP’s supply on exchanges has hardly moved, even through this violent drop, showing that few coins were sent to exchanges for sale.

Instead, the slide possibly began in the derivatives market, where over-leveraged long positions got liquidated as prices broke key support levels. When that happens, exchanges automatically close futures contracts, triggering forced selling in order books — even though no tokens move on-chain.

Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

This off-chain panic shows up clearly in the Wyckoff Volume Spread Analysis (VSA): a huge red bar formed at the peak of the liquidation wave, followed by yellow bars as the selling eased.

Sponsored

Sponsored

That shift from red (full selling control) to yellow (weaker control) usually means forced liquidations are cooling down.

Wyckoff Volume Spread Analysis (VSA) tracks how price and volume interact to show when buying or selling pressure dominates. VSA doesn’t know where that volume comes from — it doesn’t distinguish between spot selling and derivative-driven liquidations.

The last time XRP’s Wyckoff bars showed a similar red-to-yellow transition in early May, the token rebounded over 54% from its lows. If this pattern repeats, a similar move could follow once the panic fades. And that puts the XRP price target of $2.74 in play.

Whales Accumulate as the Market Cools

While smaller traders were being flushed out, whales were quietly buying.

Sponsored

Sponsored

Data from Santiment shows that wallets holding more than 1 billion XRP increased their holdings from 23.98 billion to 25.02 billion after the crash — an addition of roughly 1.04 billion XRP, worth about $2.54 billion at the current XRP price.

That behavior aligns with the on-chain picture: no major spike in exchange balances and rising whale holdings mean this wasn’t spot selling — it was a derivatives panic met by whale accumulation.

Note: The stable exchange supply also fits the picture. Large holders usually buy through OTC deals or internal swaps. Hence, their accumulation doesn’t immediately show up as on-chain exchange outflows.

Such setups often mark the bottom phase of a sentiment-driven crash, where strong hands absorb weak hands before a recovery begins.

Sponsored

Sponsored

XRP Price Eyes “This Rebound Target” as Recovery Builds

At press time, XRP trades at $2.44. This level aligns with the 0.5 Fibonacci level from the previous swing high to the $1.70 zone, the newest multi-week low.

If XRP manages a daily close above $2.43, the structure strengthens for a move toward $2.59. That could be followed by $2.82 (key resistance). That aligns with the Wyckoff projection of over $2.74, presented on the earlier chart.

An XRP price fall below $2.28, however, would weaken the setup and open downside risks to $2.05.

With whales accumulating, exchange supply stable, and panic liquidations easing, the data points to a clear shift in sentiment. This wasn’t real capitulation — it was a sentiment-driven washout that might have set the stage for XRP’s next short-term rebound.