What does it mean for Ripple’s price?

Rising whale activity comes alongside falling exchange rates, which point to movement rather than distribution by major holders.

XRP on-chain activity took a sudden turn earlier this week as mass transfers to the XRP Ledger jumped to a three-month high, according to new data from Sentiment.

The increase of $ 100,000-plus transactions shows the growth of involvement from large owners at a time when the price of the Ripple token is retreating, setting the stage for a wide price movement in the coming days.

Whale Activity Jumps As Exchange Rates Keep Falling

Santiment said on January 8 that whale-sized XRP transfers rose from 2,170 on Monday to 2,802 the next day, the highest daily figure since October. The analytics company has warned that price movements may be more erratic than usual if large holders start operating in this way.

That behavior stands out because it is the opposite of what happens in trading. Separate data shared by CryptoQuant’s contributor CryptoOnchain showed XRP reserves on Binance falling to about 2.6 billion tokens, the lowest level since January 2024. As of late 2025, estimates on the exchange have dropped from about 3.25 billion XRP, a change often linked to owners moving coins in preparation for commitment.

Meanwhile, the Arab Chain has added another layer to the picture, with analysts in the field pointing out that whale flows on Binance have been on a downward trend since mid-December 2025, after rising more than 70% of the total inflows in November and early December. Whales now make up about 60% of XRP deposits in exchanges, while retail participation remains stable. Historically, according to analysts, small whale deposits suggest immediate sales interest from major players.

The data comes at a time when XRP is becoming a major talking point in the broader markets. On January 6, CNBC’s Power Lunch called it the “hot crypto trade” of 2026, pointing to big gains for investors looking for bigger percentage moves than Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) after the ETF’s strong entry late last year.

Price Action Is Slowing Down, But The Bigger Trend Is Still Strong

In the markets, XRP was trading around $2.13 at the time of this writing, after a 6% drop in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The token briefly touched its weekly close of around $2.40 earlier this week before traders pushed it lower, in line with a soft session across the broader crypto market.

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Breaking it down, XRP is up nearly 16% over the past seven days and nearly 14% over the past two weeks. Monthly gains are just over 3%, and the annual figure remains negative.

Analysts are looking for key support near $2.27, with a sustained hold above that level considered crucial to maintaining bullish momentum. Some chartists point to a bullish setup in the XRP/BTC pairing not seen since 2018, suggesting a potential shift in relative strength. For now, the surge in whale transfers accompanied by falling exchange rates suggests a pause rather than a panic, even if short-term price volatility is still possible.