XRP: Retail investors sell, whales 'accumulate'...When will it surpass $1.5?

▲ XRP (XRP)/AI generated image

XRP is forming a precarious market structure where individual investors are absorbing the profit-taking volume of large investors, raising tension about a future price plunge.

According to NewsBTC, a cryptocurrency specialized media outlet, on April 29 (local time), a phenomenon has been observed in the XRP market where the actions of large investors, known as whales, and individual investors are sharply diverging. On-chain data from virtual asset analytics firm Santiment indicated that while XRP's price recently faced resistance around $1.5, whale addresses holding over 10 million XRP have been reducing their holdings. Conversely, individual investor addresses holding less than 10,000 XRP have sharply increased, absorbing the volume offloaded by whales.

This supply-demand imbalance is interpreted as a strong signal that the market's fundamental strength is weakening. This is because, typically, when an asset's price reaches its peak, large investors with superior information offload their holdings, and late-entering individuals, driven by market optimism, absorb them – a structure considered a typical precursor to a bearish reversal. NewsBTC warned that while XRP's price support level is currently formed around $1.4, this level could easily collapse if whale selling continues.

Technical indicators also confirm elements of instability. While the open interest in the futures market remains high, the funding rate shows signs of overheating, posing a continuous risk of cascading price drops due to long position liquidations. The situation where Bitcoin (BTC) struggles to break $80,000, leading to stagnant overall market liquidity, also weighs on XRP. Experts diagnose that maintaining a long-term upward trend is difficult with only individual buying power while large capital is exiting.

News related to the legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also affecting investor sentiment. The exit of whales while regulatory uncertainty has not been fully resolved is casting a cold warning over the market. In particular, the fact that the volume of XRP flowing into exchanges has begun to outpace outflows over the past week supports the notion that short-term selling pressure is genuinely intensifying.

The market currently stands at a critical juncture that will determine whether XRP breaks through and settles above $1.5 or is pushed down to the $1.3 level. The key question is whether individual investors' strong buying interest can withstand the selling onslaught from whales. However, historical data shows that the probability of price corrections was overwhelmingly high in periods where whales and individual investors moved in opposite directions. XRP investors are closely monitoring changes in the wallet balances of large addresses and are taking all precautions for risk management.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*