New Whale Amasses 104M XRP as Price Holds Above $0.56

A new unidentified XRP whale address gulps over 104 million XRP tokens amid the ongoing consolidation phase that has impacted the market.

Crypto whale tracking service Whale Alert first called the investing public’s attention to the massive transaction in a recent disclosure. On-chain data from leading XRPL explorer Bithomp confirms that the transaction, which involved exactly 104,400,229 XRP worth $58.2 million, occurred yesterday at 16:07 UTC.

While the XRP market often features similar substantial whale movements, courtesy of Ripple and other large holders, the latest transaction is especially significant due to the wallets involved. 

Details of the Addresses Involved

Data indicates that both the sender and the recipient are newly activated addresses. While the sending wallet sprang up on Aug. 12, the recipient address was activated at the time of the transaction yesterday. Interestingly, the sending wallet initially received 107.8 million XRP from two different addresses between Aug. 12 and 13.

After holding the tokens for at least three days, this wallet then began distributing them. The first distribution move involved a transfer of 3.4 million XRP to an unknown wallet yesterday. A minute later, the address then initiated the 104 million XRP transaction, essentially emptying its balance.

Meanwhile, the recipient wallet has continued to hold onto the tokens at press time. Due to the anonymous nature of the participating wallets, there isn’t sufficient data to ascertain the purpose of the recent whale movement. 

Essentially, the transaction could involve the accumulation of XRP by an investor using a new wallet or it could represent an in-house fund shuffling exercise from an exchange. 

If the latter is the case, the exchange involved could be Bitvavo, a European crypto trading platform. This is due to connections we established between Bitvavo addresses and some of the wallets involved. The Crypto Basic reported similar Bitvavo transactions involving 409 million XRP last October and 425 million XRP in August.

XRP in a Consolidation Phase

The latest movement comes at a time when the broader crypto market is in a state of flux. Notably, prices have continued to consolidate at key levels following the decline from Aug. 8 to 11. XRP holds above the $0.56 support threshold, currently changing hands at $0.5642 as of press time.

The daily relative strength index (RSI) indicates neutral conditions, with the RSI line flashing 49.86. The RSI is slightly above the Signal line (49.23),indicating a mild bullish divergence, which could imply a potential upward movement after a period of consolidation. However, the overall trend remains uncertain.