While the XRP price exhibited a steep decline, large investors, commonly known as whales, seized the opportunity to grab massive amounts of the coin ahead of a potential market reversal. Consequently, the number of wallets holding significant amounts of XRP surged rapidly within a very short time.
Recall that XRP, along with the global crypto market, crashed notably at the beginning of this month due to a trade tariff imposed on Canada, China, and Mexico by President Trump.
While the tariff is meant to reduce illegal migration and drug trafficking, it triggered fear of an imminent trade war between affected countries which led to investors offloading their crypto holdings leading to the observed market decline.
Also Read: Here is When the SEC Can Drop the XRP Lawsuit and Other Crypto Cases, Lawyer Reveals
Parabolic Surge in Number of XRP Whale Wallet
Market analyst and prominent member of the XRP community, Dom (known as Traderview on X), drew attention to the jump in the number of wallets holding more than 1 million XRP. In his post, he highlighted that the number of wallets in this category increased by 53 overnight following XRP’s price decline on February 3.
Wallets holding over 1 million XRP | Source: Traderview/X
The chart shared by Dom in his tweet shows a parabolic surge in the number of wallets holding more than 1 million XRP over the last year. As of January 2025, the total number was a little above 2,200, however, at the time of writing, the value has spiked to over 2,700.
While the market declined, XRP investors showed their confidence in the long-term prospect of the coin by amassing in volume. The accumulation created buying pressure on XRP which could be attributed as one of the factors behind the price rebound.
Wallets Holding More Than 100 XRP Also Increased
Meanwhile, smaller investors, those holding just over 100 XRP, also took advantage of the market situation by increasing their holdings. In the same thread, Dom shared on-chain data, showing the rapid increase in the number of wallets in this category.
As per his data, the number of wallets increased from 1.6 million to over 1.74 million within the last year. However, the major part of the increment started after the February 3 market crash.
Observing the data, the number of wallets holding 100 XRP was consolidating between 1.6 million and 1.62 million before a parabolic surge that happened following the crash.
Number of wallets holding 100 XRP |Source: Dom/X
Bitcoin and Ethereum Wallets Show Otherwise
What is interesting, according to Dom, is that XRP has shown more growth in this metric compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to shared data, the number of wallets holding more than 0.001 BTC has dropped during the same period, from over 24.7 million to about 23.9 million.
In the case of Ethereum, the number of wallets holding over 0.1 ETH showed growth at a slower pace, with its chart showing a consolidation from below 5.16 million to a little over 5.2 million. The data, in comparison, underscores investors’ growing interest and confidence in adopting XRP as opposed to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
While XRP is currently trading around $2.43, a far cry from the coveted $3 mark, investors remain hopeful for a major rally that could shoot XRP to new highs.
Also Read: Here is Why Ripple (XRP) Lawsuit Resolution is Trending Again
