Large XRP holders increased their balances over the past five weeks while smaller investors reduced their exposure, according to blockchain analytics firm Santiment. XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, ranks among the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million XRP expanded their holdings by 2.8% during the period. By contrast, smaller wallets reduced their balances by 5.2%, Santiment said. The divergence occurred as XRP rose more than 8% from late June to trade around $1.16, highlighting a split between larger holders adding to positions and smaller investors cutting exposure.

Santiment Points to Whale Accumulation

Santiment said the shift has historically been constructive for XRP because larger stakeholders have generally had more influence on the token's price action than the smallest retail wallets.

“Historically, XRP price has tended to move more with key stakeholders and against the smallest retail wallets, so this split supports the bullish case behind the bounce,” the firm said in a post on X: https://x.com/SantimentData/status/2079700021474173028

Market analysts have also cited the prospect of XRP exchange-traded funds as a possible source of institutional demand. The regulatory environment for XRP improved following Ripple's 2023 court ruling that determined the token was not a security in programmatic sales on public exchanges, a decision that paved the way for XRP-linked financial products in the United States. The XRP Ledger has continued to expand its role in areas including cross-border payments, tokenization and the RLUSD stablecoin, Ripple's U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin launched in 2024, keeping the network visible among institutional market participants.

ETF Flows Remain Positive but Uneven

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded a sixth consecutive trading session of net inflows, while spot XRP ETFs have not posted a single day of net outflows since July 9. The inflows indicate continued institutional participation in digital-asset investment products despite recent market volatility.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $69 million in net inflows on Wednesday, compared with $203 million in the previous trading session, according to SoSoValue data: Cumulative net inflows for the products reached nearly $52 billion, while average assets under management stood at about $80 billion.

Spot Ethereum ETFs also attracted new capital. The products recorded $73 million in net inflows on Wednesday, almost double the $37 million reported on Tuesday, according to SoSoValue:

Demand for XRP ETFs remained smaller by comparison. The products brought in about $2.5 million in net inflows on Monday and roughly $6 million on Tuesday, raising cumulative inflows to about $1.49 billion. Average assets under management were around $1 billion, according to SoSoValue data:

Futures Data Shows Rising Open Interest

CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain said XRP's 30-day Open Interest Z-Score on Binance climbed to about 1.60, with open interest reaching 440.6 million XRP. Open interest measures the total value of outstanding derivative contracts that have not yet been settled, and a rising Z-Score signals that leveraged trading activity is increasing relative to its recent norm. That level was above the 30-day average of 418.5 million XRP, according to the analyst's CryptoQuant commentary:

Arab Chain said rising open interest combined with higher prices typically indicates new capital entering the market, a setup that can support an ongoing rally. However, the analyst also said that if open interest continues to rise without sustained price gains, traders could become more exposed to liquidations if sentiment weakens.