Large-scale investors, known as whales, in the XRP market accumulated a staggering 1.08 billion tokens valued at $3 billion during the early Asian trading hours on Thursday. This significant buying spree has elevated the total XRP holdings of these whales to their highest since June 2024. Despite this influx, XRP's market price remains confined within a narrow range, underscoring a pronounced bearish sentiment.
Santiment reports indicate that whale addresses, holding between 100 million and 1 billion XRP, acquired 1.08 billion tokens worth $3 billion. Consequently, their collective holdings have surged to 10.41 billion XRP, reaching levels unseen since mid-2024.
This accumulation surge occurs amid notable developments in the Ripple ecosystem, such as its integration with Chainlink, a noteworthy dinner between Ripple's leadership and pro-crypto President-elect Donald Trump, and a revealing interview with Ripple President Monica Long suggesting the potential emergence of an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Yet, the market's response remains tepid. XRP’s price continues to hover sideways, constrained by technical indicators that highlight a persistent bearish trend preventing any upward movement.
XRP's Balance of Power (BoP) presently stands at -0.04, reflecting the dominance of sellers in the market. A negative BoP signals prevailing bearish sentiment and suggests forthcoming downward pricing pressure.
Moreover, the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) indicator for XRP corroborates this bearish perspective. At the time of writing, the CMF is reported at -0.09, indicating that selling forces are eclipsing buying momentum, reinforcing the market’s bearish tone.
Using XRP's Fibonacci Retracement tool, analysts predict that if bearish pressures persist, the altcoin may test support at $1.99. Failing to maintain this support could lead to further price declines towards $1.88. However, continued whale accumulation, potentially spurring broader market interest, may help propel XRP prices toward $2.45, invalidating the current bearish outlook.