Large cryptocurrency holders are taking different positions as Bitcoin's decline continues, with XRP whales increasing their balances while Bitcoin and Ethereum whales reduce theirs. Santiment charts shared by analyst Ali Martinez on November 10 show that large XRP holders added approximately 65.32 million tokens over four days, valued at nearly $72 million. By contrast, Bitcoin whales reduced their holdings by more than 34,000 BTC, while Ethereum whales shed around 17,800 ETH during the previous week.

Martinez, who publishes the analysis on X under the handle Ali Charts, posted the balance charts, part of a numbered thread on X, drawn from Santiment's whale tracking data. Santiment is an on-chain analytics platform, and whale watching — monitoring the largest wallet addresses for a token — is a widely followed analytics practice because those balances are recorded on public blockchains. The figures mark a split among the largest wallets tracked across the three major cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Whales Reduce Holdings as BTC Drops Below $73,000

Bitcoin recorded the largest reduction by dollar value among the three assets. According to Martinez, whale holdings declined by more than 34,000 BTC — worth roughly $2.6 billion — as the cryptocurrency fell from $79,000 to below $73,000 over the past week.

The accompanying Santiment chart shows a broadly consistent decline in the balances tracked, with the latest reading near 5.24 million BTC. Earlier bars were closer to 5.28 million BTC, indicating that large-holder exposure contracted alongside the price. Drawdowns are when readings like these draw the most attention, because they show whether the largest tracked wallets are adding to positions, holding steady, or distributing while prices fall.

2/5 Bitcoin whales are selling into the downturn. As $BTC fell from $79,000 to below $73,000 over the past week, large holders reduced their holdings by more than 34,000 BTC, roughly $2.6 billion. pic.twitter.com/rHd9neVZP1
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) November 10, 2026

The sequence matters, because accumulation during falling prices can sometimes absorb available supply. In this case, however, the tracked Bitcoin wallets were reducing their balances rather than increasing them. The figures do not establish which wallets sold on exchanges or why their holdings changed.

Ethereum Whales Trim Exposure as XRP Accumulation Accelerates

Ethereum recorded a smaller reduction. Martinez said large holders shed approximately 17,800 ETH over seven days, equivalent to around $40 million at the prices used in his analysis.

The Santiment chart for Ethereum shows a less uniform pattern than Bitcoin's. Holdings rose early in the observed period, declined afterward, and briefly recovered before the latest reading weakened again.

Although both groups reduced exposure, their reported dollar changes differed substantially. Bitcoin's $2.6 billion contraction was about 65 times Ethereum's $40 million decline. Meanwhile, XRP moved in the opposite direction.

XRP Whales Buck the Trend

According to the same analysis, whale wallets accumulated 65.32 million XRP over four days, bringing the value of the increase to almost $72 million. Unlike the Bitcoin and Ethereum balances, XRP whale holdings recovered toward 4 billion tokens in the Santiment charts. The final bar marks the highest point in the displayed sequence after a mid-period dip, contrasting with Bitcoin's falling bars.

4/5 XRP is the exception. While Bitcoin and Ethereum whales cut exposure, large holders accumulated roughly 65.32 million $XRP over the past four days, worth nearly $72 million. pic.twitter.com/MMnze7kreJ
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) November 10, 2026

What the Whale Divergence Means for Crypto Markets

These movements indicate different short-term holding patterns among the wallet groups tracked for each cryptocurrency. They do not prove that funds withdrawn from Bitcoin or Ethereum were transferred into XRP.

Changes in wallet balances can reflect purchases, sales, or transfers, and the charts alone cannot identify investor intentions. The monitoring windows also differ: four days for the XRP measurement versus roughly one week for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The dollar valuations in the analysis are based on the prices used at the time of each reading. As a result, the divergence describes the tracked balances rather than confirmed flows between assets.

For now, the reported data documents XRP whale accumulation occurring alongside reductions in Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, without establishing whether that divergence will persist or influence prices. Subsequent updates to the same Santiment series would show whether the split among the three cohorts held, narrowed, or reversed.