Fueled by Broad Market Rally, Whale Accumulation Sends XRP Sentiment Cautiously Optimistic

Despite lingering volatility and regulatory uncertainty, the sentiment surrounding XRP has turned cautiously optimistic, fueled by a broader market rally

The crypto market has seen a broader rally of late, and one token that might be able to continue moving higher from here is XRP.

The price of the token has been volatile in recent months, as it continues to be affected by a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, despite this, XRP has managed to remain in a channel and could be setting up for a breakout from the weekly triangle and a potential new all-time high.

As the market trends suggest, large holders, commonly referred to as whales, have been increasing their exposure to XRP. According to data from Santiment, investors holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP now account for 12.1% of the token’s total supply. This proportion has seen a rise from 11.58% in mid-April.

This increase in whale concentration typically signals growing interest from institutions and confidence in the token’s value. The same can be said for a sharp increase in XRP exchange reserves, especially on Binance, which might indicate short-term risks.

According to CryptoQuant, the amount of XRP held on exchanges went up from 2.7 billion on May 1 to 2.9 billion. As we know, rising reserves often precede selling pressure as traders move assets onto exchanges. This dynamic introduces a note of caution to otherwise bullish momentum.

But on the technical side of things, XRP has managed to stay above several key moving averages despite some short-term choppiness. The 50-day EMA at $2.30, the 100-day EMA at $2.26, and the 200-day EMA at $2.06 form a solid base of support.

What’s more, the recent low on XRP aligns with an ascending trendline that traders are keeping an eye on. A stable move above $2.46 could signal a bullish breakout of the $2.64 resistance. If the price can pierce through the immediate resistance at $2.48, the next upside targets become $2.55 and $2.64.

Technical analyst Dark Defender also suggests a potential surge to $3.33 in the near term, with even greater projections of $5.85 for the long term. However, a breakdown below $2.33 could expose XRP to pullbacks towards $2.88 or even $2.21.

“XRP is aiming for $3.33 in the short term, and is expected to fire the bullet, which will then likely flatten itself against the $5.85 parapet,” said Dark Defender in a recent post.

Adding fuel to the bullish narrative, traders on the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket have sharply increased their bets that XRP will revisit its all-time high of $3.3517. The odds went up drastically, shifting from 24% to 44% during May, reflecting a surge in optimism.

Analyst Credible Crypto also drew interesting parallels between XRP’s current setup and Bitcoin’s recent parabolic rally, stating: “The chop/consolidation we are seeing on $XRP in the $2 range is not a cause for concern—the longer we chop in this tight range the more explosive the next leg up will be.”

It seems like momentum from the broader crypto market, especially Bitcoin’s recent surge past $109,000, is trickling down to altcoins like XRP, which has seen a 50% gain since April’s local low.

As for institutional developments, Ripple’s recent acquisition of Hidden Road unlocks access to over $11 trillion in daily U.S. Treasury clearing markets through the FICC. Although XRP itself won’t be used directly for settlement—Ripple’s enterprise-focused stablecoin RLUSD takes that role—the move massively enhances Ripple’s institutional reach.

This development also highlights the growing utility of the Ripple ledger, which underlies XRP’s broader use cases in payments and liquidity provisioning. Further credibility could be added if rumored talks between Ripple and Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), result in a merger. That would make Ripple the second-largest stablecoin provider after Tether, indirectly boosting XRP’s ecosystem influence.

Finally, speculation persists over whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve spot XRP ETFs. Polymarket currently assigns an 85% chance of approval by year-end, with JPMorgan estimating inflows of $4–8 billion in the first year. The already-launched XXRP ETF has managed to attract $121 million despite a high 1.89% expense ratio.