YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Ripple transferred over 46 million XRP coins, worth over $24.7 million, to an unknown address on Jan. 30. While the transfer did NOT constitute a SELL, it could trigger questions and a subsequent price drop if the investors find the move suspicious.
Implications Of Ripple Moving 46M XRP
Transactions of this magnitude, especially when initiated by Ripple, can have various implications for the XRP market. As mentioned, large transactions by Ripple could influence XRP’s price in the short term. If the market perceives these sales as Ripple taking profits or reducing its XRP holdings, it could lead to price fluctuations.
Generally, selling large amounts of XRP can increase its liquidity in the market, potentially making it more accessible to a broader range of investors. However, if not managed carefully, it could also lead to oversupply concerns.
Meanwhile, Ripple might sell XRP for strategic reasons, such as funding its operations, investing in blockchain and crypto ecosystem projects, or fulfilling its commitments to partners and stakeholders.
However, given Ripple’s ongoing legal challenges with the SEC, significant movements of XRP are closely watched by investors and analysts for any potential legal implications or insights into Ripple’s confidence and legal strategy.
XRP At Key Resistance
While investors grapple with the news, XRP grappled with a significant support-turned-resistance at $0.53. An additional hindrance came from the 20-day exponential moving average (red wave), as XRP/USD fell below it in early January and has not recovered above the wave since.
If XRP didn’t conquer the resistance in the coming session, the likely target for a correction would be $0.50, a 6% slide from the current value. Meanwhile, as CoinChapter reported earlier, the whale count kept declining.
Crypto research platform Messari backed the findings, signaling a whale exodus. According to the chart below, the ranks of XRP whales, i.e., addresses with large amounts of tokens, have receded since mid-December.
Notably, this is not the first occasion of Ripple moving large amounts of XRP. On Jan. 17, Whale Alert reported two large XRP transactions. They were also involved in moving over 46 million XRP tokens to exchanges.
Specifically, one of these transactions involved transferring 26.1 million XRP, valued at approximately $14.92 million, from an unidentified wallet to Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Luxembourg.
The additional transaction of 20.1 million XRP, estimated at $11.48 million, originated from an undisclosed source to Bitso, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Mexico. The total value of XRP moved by whales amounted to $26.4 million. These substantial movements could potentially lead to further drops in the price of XRP. The subsequent weekly XRP drop equaled 12% at the time.
