finbold.com
$XRP remains one of the success stories of the current cryptocurrency market rally, having broken out of a prolonged consolidation zone that had cast doubt on the asset’s sustainability.
The $XRP price resurgence has gained traction as the asset maintains a diverse distribution of tokens across institutional custodians, exchanges, and individual accounts.
As of press time, $XRP was valued at $2.52, rallying by over 5% in the last 24 hours. On the weekly chart, the Ripple-affiliated digital asset has gained over 33%.
Looking at the asset’s distribution, out of the maximum supply of 100 billion $XRP, approximately 57 billion $XRP is in circulation.
Ripple’s escrow accounts hold a substantial 38.04 billion $XRP, gradually released to ensure liquidity control and supply management. Notably, 13.18 million $XRP has been permanently burned, reducing the total available supply to 99.99 billion $XRP.
$XRP’s top holders
For specific holders, as of December 2024, Ripple remains the largest custodian of $XRP, holding a significant share of the cryptocurrency’s supply.
According to data retrieved by Finbold on December 7 from $XRP Scan, among the top ten holders, Ripple’s escrow accounts collectively hold 5 billion $XRP, distributed across accounts labeled Ripple (11), Ripple (10), and Ripple (28).
Additionally, exchanges Uphold and Binance rank ninth and tenth, respectively. Uphold holds approximately 1.84 billion $XRP, while Binance follows closely with 1.83 billion $XRP. Other notable entities include Bithumb (1.39 billion $XRP), UPbit (1.22 billion $XRP), and Coincheck (623.4 million $XRP).
Despite $XRP’s distribution across a diverse pool of holders, its concentration in a few key entities, particularly Ripple, raises concerns about control and decentralization.
Such concerns have previously led to inquiries into $XRP’s authenticity, with financial educator and analyst Rajat Soni labeling the asset a ‘scam’ due to alleged centralization, which could enable price manipulation.
However, it’s worth noting that despite a few entities holding a significant portion of $XRP, Ripple does not control the $XRP Ledger. Changes to the ledger require validator consensus rather than unilateral decisions. The total $XRP supply, capped at 100 billion since its pre-mining phase, remains unchanged.
What’s Next for $XRP?
$XRP is riding strong bullish momentum, supported by a favorable technical setup. According to a cryptocurrency analyst with the pseudonym Cryptoinsightuk in an X post on December 7, the asset could soar to an ambitious $5.26 by December 11.
The analyst highlighted that $XRP faced resistance at the 0.5–0.618 Fibonacci retracement levels during its previous range-bound phase, often key zones for price reversals. Once it broke through, $XRP surged to the 4.236 Fibonacci extension in just three days.
Now, in a similar position, $XRP is testing the same retracement levels. If history repeats itself, a breakthrough could trigger another rapid rally to the $5.26 target.
While this projection may seem optimistic, $XRP’s explosive rally of almost 340% over the past month suggests it’s not entirely out of reach. However, the possibility of $XRP entering overbought territory, signaling a potential pullback, remains a key area to monitor in the short term.
At the same time, $XRP is backed by strong fundamentals, including ongoing post-election momentum and the nomination of a pro-crypto official to replace the outgoing Gary Gensler as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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