What Do Ripple Whales Know?

TL;DR

• Whales went on a massive accumulation spree in the last 30 days, purchasing almost $2 billion worth of XRP.
• One can wonder if they’re preparing for a price surge, with the XRP ETF buzz and Ripple-Circle rumors gaining traction.

Whales on the Move

Ripple whales have been particularly active in the last month, accumulating tokens en masse. The popular X user Ali Martinez revealed that large investors (those holding between 10 million and 100 million coins) have purchased approximately 900 million XRP (worth just south of $2 billion at current rates) over that timeframe. 

The analyst further clarified that this group of market participants now owns around 7.77 billion tokens. This refers to 13% of XRP’s circulating supply and equals more than $17 billion. 

It is a common theory (or at least a suspicion) that whales sometimes have inside knowledge or early access to important information that could impact the price of a particular digital asset. Over the past few days, there has been rising speculation that Ripple is about to acquire the stablecoin issuer Circle.

According to a Bloomberg report, the company made an offer of somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion which was supposedly rejected. X users, though, continued to speculate on the matter. JackTheRippler, for instance, cited a recent coverage which claims that Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has raised the proposal to a whopping $20 billion. 

As of this moment, both companies remain silent on the topic, and there is nothing official. 

Getting Ready for This?

Another reason large investors may be increasing their exposure to Ripple’s native token is the growing likelihood of a spot XRP ETF being approved in the US. After all, the financial vehicle would allow investors a simplified way to gain exposure to the asset, which may increase the demand and positively influence the valuation.

Purchasing a spot ETF is as easy as buying stocks, and everything is handled through an authorized brokerage account. Investors get shares in the fund, which in turn holds and stores the actual cryptocurrency on their behalf.

Earlier this week, Eric Balchunas (Senior ETF Analyst for Bloomberg) estimated an 85% probability of such a product going live sometime in 2025. Shortly after, he hinted that the potential green light might come during the summer. 

The approval odds on Polymarket are slightly different but remain high. There is a 78% chance for the product to see the light of day before the end of the year. On the other hand, the percentage drops significantly to 39% when the deadline is set at July 31. 

The well-known companies that have already displayed their intentions to introduce the first spot XRP ETF in the USA include Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, Wisdom Tree, and more. For detailed information on the Ripple ETF front, please take a look at our dedicated article here.