XRP News Today: XRP Whale Wallets Surge 26% as Price Jumps 26%

Onchain analytics platform Santiment reported that the total number of wallets holding at least 1 million XRP tokens has surged to an all-time high of 2,743, marking a significant accumulation trend. This surge coincides with a 26% price increase over the past week, indicating a bullish trend for the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The data shows that these wallets collectively control over 47.32 billion tokens, further emphasizing the growing influence of these large holders in the market.

Santiment highlighted that not only are more whales entering the market, but the total XRP supply they control is also growing. This accumulation trend is seen as a bullish sign for XRP, as it suggests that large investors are confident in the cryptocurrency's future prospects. The recent price surge has also wiped out approximately $31.44 million in XRP short positions, as reported by CoinGlass data. This indicates that the market sentiment has shifted in favor of XRP, with more investors taking long positions.

Just a month ago, XRP had been consolidating between $1.90 and $2.90 for nearly 200 days, with traders uncertain about its next move. The recent rally aligns with a broader market upswing, as Bitcoin hit consecutive all-time highs, and Ethereum also rose sharply, gaining over 17% during the week. Santiment suggests that this strong performance across multiple cryptocurrencies signals the start of an altcoin season. As long as Bitcoin remains above the psychological support level of $110,000, investors are likely to continue shifting profits into altcoins like XRP, fueling further market momentum.

Last month, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed the company will withdraw its cross-appeal against the SEC, adding that the regulator is also expected to drop its own appeal. The announcement followed a U.S. district court decision rejecting a joint request from Ripple and the SEC to reduce Ripple’s $125 million civil penalty and overturn the ruling that classified Ripple’s institutional XRP sales as securities transactions. In her ruling, Judge Analisa Torres noted Ripple’s readiness to “push the boundaries” of the earlier summary judgment, suggesting a risk of future violations.

As reported, RippleX, the development arm of Ripple, has rolled out version 2.5.0 of the XRP Ledger, introducing several protocol upgrades aimed at strengthening network functionality and security. RippleX engineer Mayukha Vadari has called the upgrade “possibly the best single lineup of amendments” ever released, introducing significant improvements to token management and transaction processing. The XLS-85 amendment upgrades the escrow system by allowing third-party issued tokens, including stablecoins, and introduces multi-purpose tokens designed for institutional applications. The new update came after the XRP Ledger recorded a surge in user activity, with the number of daily active addresses climbing from an average of 35,000 to over 295,000.