"In past cycles, whale movements often signaled exits. This time, the activity is happening as liquidity tightens and regulated access expands. The contrast between massive XRP whale accumulation and shrinking exchange supply raises a critical question: are whales positioning before a breakout, or quietly distributing before a collapse? Understanding what happens next requires looking past the headline transfers to how supply, custody, and institutional behavior are reshaping the XRP price beneath the surface."
"Between September and November 2025, large holders accumulated roughly 340 million XRP while retail sold into weakness. Whale holdings climbed above 7.8 billion tokens, setting the stage for December's concentrated activity. The early December whale accumulation followed a specific pattern, with XRP ETF custody providers absorbing the bulk of the supply. Multiple moves of around 100 million XRP totalling roughly 800 million tokens happened in the first two weeks of December."
Between September and November 2025, large holders accumulated roughly 340 million XRP while retail sold into weakness. Whale holdings climbed above 7.8 billion tokens, culminating in roughly 800 million XRP moved off exchanges in December 2025, worth about $1.6 billion. Exchange balances fell about 45% in 60 days as institutions locked approximately 400 million XRP into ETF custody vaults and transferred the remainder into cold storage and regulated custody. The transfers mirrored institutional milestones rather than panic selling. The concentration of supply off-exchange tightens liquidity and raises uncertainty about whether whales are positioning ahead of a breakout or quietly distributing before a collapse.
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