In a remarkable turn of events, XRP has surged past the psychological $1 mark for the first time since 2021, achieving a significant milestone after spending the majority of the last three years trading below $0.6. This newfound vigor in XRP’s price is largely attributed to specific market dynamics and strategic holder activity that have played a crucial role in this breakout.
The uptrend saw XRP reaching $1.26 on Binance, a level not witnessed since November 11, 2021. This impressive three-year high is part of a broader cryptocurrency market rally but is primarily driven by strategic moves from key stakeholders and speculation surrounding a potential change in leadership at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On-chain data from analytics platform Santiment reveals that large XRP holders, specifically those with wallets holding between 1 million to 100 million tokens, have been pivotal in driving this breakout. These wallets, categorized as belonging to “whales” and “sharks,” have collectively accumulated a staggering 453.3 million XRP tokens in the past week alone. This aggressive accumulation has pushed their total holdings to approximately 18% of the total XRP supply, translating to about $526.3 million at current prices. Santiment’s historical data suggests that such large-scale acquisitions by market participants often signal bullish sentiment and typically precede sustained price increases.
Meanwhile, retail traders have been selling off their XRP holdings. Santiment reported that wallets with less than 1 million XRP have collectively offloaded 75.7 million tokens over the past week, worth approximately $87.9 million. However, this apparent selling pressure from retail investors has been effectively mitigated by the sharks and whales, who have absorbed these tokens to counter any negative impacts from these sales.
The recent surge in XRP’s price has allowed it to displace Dogecoin in market cap rankings, reclaiming its position as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency. Over the past 24 hours, XRP is up by about 11%, whereas Dogecoin has seen a 7% decline. Despite a slight retracement from its three-year high of $1.26, with current trading at $1.06, sentiment remains bullish for XRP. Analysts suggest that as long as the whales and sharks continue to hold above the $1 mark, we can expect further growth, potentially driven by renewed interest and fear of missing out (FOMO) among retail investors.
Crypto analyst Egrag Crypto notes that the next key milestone for XRP would be to close above $1.10 on the current weekly candlestick, a move that could set the stage for continued upward momentum.
