Ripple Moves 150,000,000 XRP Amid XRP ETF Hype

A 150 million XRP transfer from Ripple today coincides with the bullish sentiment around XRP following speculations of a potential ETF.

Payment giant Ripple has unloaded another huge amount of XRP as speculations of a possible XRP ETF swell. Blockchain whale tracker Whale Alert reported that Ripple moved a staggering 150,000,000 XRP, worth $85 million.

🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 150,000,000 #XRP (85,383,318 USD) transferred from #Ripple to unknown wallethttps://t.co/uwRDwlk3LS

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) September 13, 2024

The Friday transaction saw Ripple move the funds to familiar territory. Per on-chain data, the transaction was done by 4:40 AM (UTC) from a Ripple-affiliated address “rBg…91m” to an unidentified wallet “rP4…xv3.”

Familiar Territory

The receiving address has seen a notable XRP influx from Ripple several times in the past. Further investigation confirms that the address does have an affiliation with the payment firm. An earlier report showed that the same address received 200,000,000 XRP from Ripple in August.

Their transactional relationship could also be traced further back to July 9, when Ripple unloaded 150,000,000 XRP to the same address. 

Notably, data from Bithomp shows that the “rP4…xv3” address still possessed the 150 million XRP it received on Friday. The wallet, activated on October 2, 2023, held 218 million XRP, while the multi-signature sending Ripple address had 200 million XRP.

XRP ETF Rumours Momentous

Following Grayscale’s announcement of the launch of Grayscale XRP Trust, the clamoring for an XRP ETF has peaked. The leading asset manager has historically converted some of its trusts to ETF products (Bitcoin and Ethereum).

The timeline for the launch of an XRP ETF has emerged, with expert Blair Campbell stating he sees the product debuting in four to eight months. However, it is unclear how this could pan out, considering the asset still has a legal hangover with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

If the regulator appeals the August 7 verdict, the legal battle could unfold again. It is worth stating that the SEC has until October 6 to appeal Judge Torres’ partial victory ruling.

Meanwhile, XRP got the nudge it needed following the Grayscale announcement. The asset is up over 4% in the past 24 hours, trading at $0.5611 at press time.