XRP is back in the spotlight after nearly 442 million of its tokens, worth around $592 million, were removed from the world’s two largest exchanges, Binance and Coinbase, in just two days at the end of March.
At the time of writing, XRP is currently trading at $1.3186, down 0.08% since it opened early Friday in Asian trading.
What makes this situation even more interesting is not just the volume, but the timing and pattern, which has come so suddenly after a period of relative quiet in the market.
For most of March, whale XRP withdrawal activity has been moderate, at around 50 million XRP per day.
But this sudden surge, almost nine times the average, is a clear signal that big players are back in action.
In the crypto world, when assets are moved off exchanges, it usually indicates an intention to hold, not sell, thus reducing selling pressure in the market.
The immediate effect of this move is a reduction in the supply of XRP available for sale.
Nearly $600 million worth of XRP is now out of the ‘instant sell zone’, a factor that could theoretically support the price.
However, the current market reality has yet to show a significant positive reaction.
XRP price is still struggling to hold onto support around $1.30, and has even failed to break through the key resistance at $1.40.
The technical structure also remains weak with the price below several key moving averages, indicating that selling pressure is still in the market for the time being.
Whales are starting to accumulate or move their holdings, but the price has yet to respond in kind.
This is often seen as the initial phase before a major move occurs, either a further surge or a subsequent decline.
