Ripple Co-Founder Loses $150M in XRP as Dormant Wallets Surge, XRP Price Jumps 31%

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has been at the center of a significant financial event involving XRP wallets. In January 2024, Larsen lost approximately $150 million in XRP value due to a compromised private key stored in the password manager LastPass, which suffered a major data breach in 2022. This breach allowed hackers to access encrypted digital assets, resulting in the substantial loss.

The incident took an unusual turn when previously dormant XRP wallets linked to Larsen suddenly became active. These wallets, which had remained inactive for years, began making large transactions in early January 2025. The sudden activity raised questions about who owns and controls these holdings. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT discovered that these wallets held over 2.7 billion XRP, estimated at approximately $7.18 billion. The timing of these movements has sparked concerns and speculation within the cryptocurrency community.

Following the activation of these dormant wallets, more than $109 million worth of XRP was transferred to major exchanges. This unexpected movement led to discussions within the community, with some suggesting that Larsen may have recently regained access to the wallets, while others speculate that the assets could have changed ownership as early as 2013. The real owner of the wallets remains unknown, and the community continues to guess.

The timing of these wallet activations coincided with a major policy announcement from U.S. President. He proposed creating a digital asset stockpile, which would include XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano. Right after this announcement, XRP experienced a significant price surge, jumping from $2.23 to a peak of $2.93. This price movement drew even more attention from investors, who wondered if the wallet transfers had something to do with the market upswing.

Larsen has made notable XRP transactions in the past. In September 2020, he moved approximately 500 million XRP, then worth $115 million, to an undisclosed address. He later stated that the transfer was for security reasons, specifically to NYDIG. However, many in the cryptocurrency community questioned whether other motives were at play. Despite the lack of evidence to support these claims, the new activity has reignited discussions about past transfers and their potential meaning.