While XRP recently shattered a three-year record amid its latest uptrend, the commendable feat has been marked by several factors.
In a recent analysis, Santiment disclosed that XRP’s multi-year high milestone follows significant accumulation from whale wallets holding between 1 million and 100 million XRP.
Deep XRP Buying Before Price Pump
Over the past week, this influential group has added 453.3 million tokens, equivalent to $526 million to their holdings. This substantial accumulation brought their collective holdings to nearly 18% of XRP’s circulating supply—the highest level in two months.
The surge in whale activity coincides with a contrasting trend among retail traders. Wallets holding less than 1 million XRP offloaded around 76 million tokens valued at $88 million over the same period, likely attempting to lock in short-term profits.
This divergence in behavior shows a broader market narrative: while retail traders display hesitancy, major investors are doubling down on XRP’s long-term potential.
According to Santiment, sustained whale accumulation has historically served as a bullish signal for any crypto asset. Large stakeholders tend to have a firm conviction in their investments, and their confidence can drive market cap growth.
The recent XRP price spike supports this theory, as whale-driven demand has offset retail selling pressure and fueled upward momentum.
Whales Control a Combined 45.61B XRP Supply
In response to Santiment’s analysis, community member Machzilla commented that most of the XRP supply will eventually be controlled by wealthy venture capitalists, institutional investors, and savvy retail investors who recognize its value.
In his view, only a small fraction will be left to frustrated traders and those who regret betting against XRP’s positive momentum.
Santiment noted in an earlier report that wallets holding at least 1 million XRP controlled a combined total of 45.61 billion tokens as of November 14, the highest amount since June 2018.
The analysis also highlighted that whales have adjusted their strategy over the past two years, accumulating an additional 3.44 billion XRP. Meanwhile, the price of XRP continued to decline until recently, when the effects of this multi-year accumulation began to take hold.
With XRP trading at $1.14, its price is up 6.5% today and has surged more than 101% over the past week.
XRP At Peak Popularity on Google Search
Another key factor behind XRP’s recent uptrend is the surge in public interest, as evidenced by Google Trends. According to the data, XRP’s popularity score peaked at 100 over the weekend—its highest level since April 2021.