In spite of the current market uncertainty, Ripple coin’s largest crypto whales have been seen stacking up the altcoin, defying the fearful trend that’s caught the retail by the nuts. Since the beginning of 2026, XRP’s market value dipped by 4%, but this modest figure comes along with 42 new millionaires, on-chain data suggests.
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According to Santiment, this vibe is totally different from what the on-chain sleuths had seen in Q4 of 2025. Interestingly, 784 XRP millionaires had signed off from October 5, 2025 until the New Year’s Eve, hinting at hefty profit-taking among largest crypto investors, popularly referred to as crypto whales.
Once 2026 kicked in, XRP’s price didn’t necessarily burst out with gains, but the change was there. A CNBC report had acknowledged XRP coin to be the ‘hottest crypto play’ of the year, meaning that Ripple’s native coin had garnered unprecedented mainstream attention. On top of that, the regulatory path looks crystal clear compared to what it was a year ago.
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Having settled with the SEC, Ripple even applied for a traditional banking license last Summer. With the results still pending, the stablecoin-focused Clarity Act puts Ripple’s own RLUSD stablecoin at the pedestal for federal-grade integration. Eventually, this is expected to give a huge liquidity boost to the broader XRP Ledger ecosystem, including XRP coin.
Broader Trend Still Dubious, XRP’s 25% Below Key Trend-line
While defying the broader market trend, the upswing isn’t structural yet. XRP’s price remains sustained in a corrective wave, another fresh report from Crypto Quant suggests. XRP coin has closed in the $1.82 – $1.95 price range for the past week, but the current price of $1.88 mirrors the mild panic – XRP’s $2 entrance was denied twice in 7 days.
According to Crypto Quant, XRP’s 200-day moving average sits at $2.54, a territory unclaimed since mid-November, 2025. The Sharpe Ratio also remained super-low at 0.034, meaning that the market participants lack a decisive direction, hibernating in “wait-&-see” mode as political tensions continue to rattle the globe’s financial markets.
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Wallets holding at least 1 million XRP tokens (valued in the millions USD at current prices). Santiment tracks this as a key whale/large-holder metric for long-term sentiment.
A net +42 wallets with 1M+ XRP have returned since January 1, 2026—the first growth since September 2025. This reverses prior declines (e.g., -784 from October to December).
Around 2,016 as of late January 2026, up from recent lows in the 1,915–1,974 range. The chart shows steady growth in early 2026 after months of outflows.
Encouraging long-term sign—whale accumulation during dips often precedes rallies. But short-term price needs catalysts to confirm upside; broader market chop remains a factor.
