XRP Price Under Pressure as Whale Selling Signal Returns After Four Months

XRP is facing renewed bearish pressure after a key on-chain indicator signaled increased whale selling for the first time in nearly four months, raising concerns that Ripple’s native cryptocurrency could experience additional downside if market sentiment continues to weaken.

According to CryptoQuant data, the XRP Whale Flow 30-day moving average (30-DMA) has turned negative for the first time since February. The metric, which tracks the movement of large XRP holders, suggests that whales have shifted from accumulation to distribution, a development that historically coincided with price weakness.

The latest data shows that whale activity has steadily declined since early May. Daily whale accumulation has dropped from roughly 9 million to 13 million XRP to around 4 million XRP, highlighting reduced confidence among major investors. On Tuesday, whale flow fell further to just 1.24 million XRP, reinforcing signs of growing caution as the broader cryptocurrency market remains under pressure.

Although Ripple Executive Chairman Chris Larsen’s wallet addresses became active during this period, the transferred amounts were relatively modest and were not considered large enough to significantly impact XRP’s market price.

Bearish sentiment has also spread to the derivatives market. Binance funding rates for XRP perpetual futures have fallen to approximately -0.0139, their lowest level in more than three months. Negative funding rates typically indicate that traders are increasingly opening short positions, reflecting expectations of additional price declines. However, extremely negative funding rates can occasionally create the conditions for a short squeeze if buying pressure unexpectedly returns.

XRP briefly dropped to a 24-hour low of $1.02 before recovering slightly to trade around $1.04. The token reached an intraday high of $1.05, but trading volume has remained subdued, signaling weaker participation from investors.

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez noted that XRP could find immediate support near $0.90 based on the UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) model. Additional key support levels are located at $0.80, $0.62, and $0.51 should selling pressure intensify.

Meanwhile, XRP futures open interest declined nearly 2% to $2.28 billion as optimism surrounding the passage of the Clarity Act weakened. Open interest fell by more than 0.5% on CME and over 2.3% on Binance, indicating reduced speculative activity.

Institutional demand also softened. Spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded net outflows of $2.83 million on Tuesday. Bitwise’s XRP ETF posted $5.82 million in redemptions, while Canary’s XRPC fund partially offset the losses with $2.99 million in net inflows.

With whale distribution increasing, negative funding rates, declining futures open interest, and ETF outflows adding to the pressure, XRP remains vulnerable to further volatility. Investors will closely monitor whether support levels can hold or if the cryptocurrency faces a deeper correction in the days ahead.