Analyst highlighted that the current Whale to Exchange Transaction indicator leaned towards a likely whale sell-off.
Since November, XRP XRP $2.23 24h volatility: 2.9% Market cap: $130.57 B Vol. 24h: $2.54 B has held its 560% gains very well. Even the December sell-off didn’t push most holders to offload their tokens.
In fact, according to crypto analyst Ali Martinez, the slight discount offered during the weekend was quickly capitalized by whales as they scooped 100 million tokens (worth over $300M).
Whales bought over 100 million $XRP in the last 48 hours, as shown by data from @santimentfeed! pic.twitter.com/TVdqt65Nu4
— Ali (@ali_charts) January 20, 2025
Interestingly, the renewed whale interest and accumulation spree over the weekend was followed by a 10% rally ahead of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. That being said, another analyst cautioned users of potential profit-taking by whales.
XRP Whales Planning to Cash Out?
According to CryptoQuant analyst Woominkyu, the ongoing spike in Whale to Exchange Transactions on Binance might signal an imminent sell-off from large players.
For context, the metric tracks the movement of tokens to and from exchanges by large players. So, a spike could be an accumulation or distribution trend.
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Photo: CryptoQuant
- But Woominkyu highlighted that the current trend leaned towards a whale sell-off, citing historical trends on the metric. Part of his analysis reads:
“The recent surge in whale transactions, reflected by the SMA line, aligns with XRP’s sharp price rise to $3.2. Historically, similar spikes in whale activity have been followed by notable market actions, often indicating profit-taking by whales.”
He added:
“The current spike suggests a strong likelihood that whales may be positioning themselves for profit realization.”
However, it’s worth pointing out that the expected whale profit-taking could also be accelerated if the US president does not make a positive pro-crypto announcement.
Since Ripple Labs has been one of the affected firms by the SEC’s enforcement action, any legal relief could bolster the odds of XRP ETF approvals. By extension, it could fuel XRP’s rally, too.
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Photo: Polymarket
- The odds of such an approval briefly shot to 89% on 20th January. However, at press time, it dropped slightly to 75%, suggesting that the XRP might be partly pricing in the high chances of XRP ETF approval under the new regime.
But it remains to be seen whether the ongoing SEC lawsuit will be ‘frozen’ or the recent appeal dismissed under the incoming pro-crypto chair Paul Atkins.
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Photo: TradingView
- In the meantime, the altcoin consolidated above the December peak of $2.9, signaling a potential breakout. On the upside, the immediate bullish targets were $4 and $5.3. On the contrary, a drop below $3 could embolden short-sellers to drag XRP to $2.3 or $2.