XRP whale activity hits record high as price surges over 440% in a month

Whale activity for the XRP Ledger’s native token, XRP, has hit a new all-time high after the token’s price exploded last month, making the cryptocurrency the third-largest digital asset by market capitalization.

According to data from CryptoCompare, the price of XRP has increased by more than 440% in the last 30 days as the cryptocurrency rose from around $0.5 per token to now $2.74, closing in on its then all-time high of over $3.3 approached in 2018.

XRP’s stellar month can be attributed to several catalysts. First, Donald Trump’s recent victory in the 2024 US presidential election has strengthened expectations of a crypto-friendly government.

Investors are also eagerly awaiting the resignation of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, expected on January 20, 2025, which could lead to a more favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.

The price of XRP also surged after several companies applied to list a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the country. The most recent company was WisdomTree, which entered the race alongside Bitwise, 21Shares and Canary Capital.

The SEC has yet to greenlight a spot XRP ETF, and the regulator has been locked in a legal battle with a major player in the XRP sector, Ripple, since 2020. The SEC has accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through XRP sales, invalidating the token as an unregistered security.

A significant legal victory for Ripple came in July 2023 when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that certain programmatic sales of XRP did not constitute securities transactions. However, the judge found that direct sales to institutional investors were in fact offers of securities.

In particular, data from CryptoQuant suggests that XRP whales are playing a major role in the cryptocurrency’s price rise as their activity has reached a new all-time high.

Notably, CryptoQuant analyst Woominkyu recently pointed out that in the past, significant spikes in whale-to-exchange XRP transactions “align closely with XRP price spikes.” There has been a recent surge in these transactions, pointing to a peak around $2.3, suggesting that whales may be “preparing for potential profit-taking or increased market activity.”

Featured image via Pixabay.