XRP whale activity surges 280% as SEC proposal opens legal exit

XRP whale transactions above $1 million rose 280% to 38 as SEC's proposed rules open legal exit for Ripple.

"Whale activity on the XRP Ledger has exploded over the past 24 hours," Ali Martinez, crypto analyst, said on X. "The number of transactions exceeding $1 million has surged 280%, climbing to more than 38 large transactions."

XRP traded at $1.0033 as of 09:30 UTC, up 1.05 percent over 24 hours, according to CryptoRank data. Binance open interest reached $461.3 million, the highest since early July, while XRP remains roughly 73 percent below its all-time high. Exchange withdrawals have outpaced deposits on Coinbase, which handles 47.3 percent of XRP spot volume, with net wallet counts down 14,300 since Feb. 28, per CryptoQuant.

The SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, announced Aug. 18, includes a conditional safe harbor for tokens once an issuer's essential managerial efforts have permanently ceased. Attorney Bill Morgan said Ripple could plausibly qualify, potentially limiting past institutional sales from being treated as investment contracts.

Whale Activity Meets Regulatory Tailwind

The surge in large-holder transactions coincides with broader repositioning across XRP markets. Binance open interest climbed from roughly $360 million in early August to $461.3 million, the highest since early July, according to CryptoQuant. Derivatives volume expanded 12.48 percent to $1.55 billion, while options volume jumped 58.25 percent to $883,790.

Martinez cautioned that XRP still faces "huge resistance" before the outlook turns decisively bullish. He sees downside potentially extending toward $0.70, while a break above $1.06 could unlock significantly more upside. XRP's relative strength index registered 43.46, below the neutral 50 threshold, while the Chaikin Money Flow read 0.06, indicating limited but continued capital inflow.

SEC Proposal's Fine Print

The SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets proposal, which enters a 60-day public comment period, creates fundraising exemptions of up to $5 million over four years or $75 million annually. But attorney Bill Morgan argued the dollar thresholds won't help Ripple, which releases roughly $300 million worth of XRP from escrow monthly.

Where Morgan sees genuine relevance is the proposal's safe harbor provision, sometimes referred to as Rule 400. To use it, Ripple would need to certify that its managerial efforts tied to XRP have permanently ceased, removing the investment contract classification that a court previously applied to some of Ripple's institutional sales. Morgan pointed to Ripple's expanding focus on RLUSD and several acquisitions over the past 18 months as evidence the company's core activity has shifted away from XRP-specific development.

Ripple's partnership with South Korea's Jeonbuk Bank adds another institutional use case around the broader XRP ecosystem, although Ripple Payments adoption does not necessarily translate directly into XRP usage or demand. On the XRP Ledger's native DEX, only 0.16 percent of trades over the past 72 hours used XRP as a bridge asset, according to validator Vet, leaving considerable room for adoption if usage reaches double-digit percentages.

For XRP to validate a bullish reversal, recapturing the $1 level represents the immediate challenge. Successfully breaking above the $1.02 resistance zone could propel prices toward $1.05, which previously served as support. Should XRP remain trapped below $1, the next meaningful support emerges at $0.97.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.