Ripple’sXRPhasshiftedtoBinance,wherewhaleshavebeenmakingdepositssince2021.XRPisstillalong-termbetforrapidappreciation,raisingnewhopeswitheachbullcycle.
XPRwhalespreferBinancefortheirdeposits.Since2021,reservesonBinanceincreased,despitethepruningofliquiditypoolsandpairs.Whalesstartedmoreactivedepositsthreeyearsago,andBinanceremainsthepreferredmarket,withsignificantXRPreserves.
Morethan14%ofallXRPtradingisconcentratedinthetwoavailableBinancetradingpairs,makingtheexchangeasuitablehubtobetonXRPvolatility.AccordingtoCryptoQuant,thedepositsacceleratedinthelastmonthsof2021,andwhalesdidnotmoveawaytheirXRP,keepingtheassetsreadyfortrading.
OneofthereasonsforthedepositsisthatBinancestillsupportsXRPstaking,despiteremovingsomeofthetradingactivitiestoavoidUSregulatorylimitations.AfterXRPrelaunchedonBinance,thosewhalesstillkepttheirbalancesontheexchangeanddidnotmovetoothermarkets.
Atthesametime,otherwhaleskeptmovingcoinstosmallerexchanges.ThemostpopularmarketsforanonymouswhaleswereBitso,Bitstamp,andBybit.AfterXRPrallied,onewhalesentmorethan$11MinXRPtotheBitsoexchange.
Binanceremainsalarge-scaleXRPholder
XRPwasrelistedonceagaininthesummerof2023,thoughBinanceshiftedtheavailablemarkets.SinceMay2024,BinanceFuturesdiscontinuedsupportforXRPmarkets.
BinancecarriesXRPinatotalofeightwallets,becomingoneofthelargestholdersafterRippleitself.TheBinance4wallethasthelargestholdings,at1,477,168,713XRP,valuedatmorethan$805M.
Intotal,Binance’swalletscontain3,126,845,450XRP,valuedatmorethan$1.7B.Theamountiscomparativelysmalltothe99.99BtotalsupplyofXRP.However,thetokenisalsolockedorheldforthelongterm,limitingthecirculatingsupplytoabout50B.
Binancewhalesarethuswell-positionedtomakeuseofXRPrallies,astheassettriestoreclaimahigherrange.YetXRPskepticsalsobelievesomewhalesmayexertsellingpressuretokeepXRPartificiallylow.
XRPlawsuitmayendafterUSSECmissesappealdate
AttentionisshiftingbacktoXRP,afterthedeadlineforappealingpassed,andtheUSSecuritiesandExchangeCommissiondidnotfiletoextendthelawsuit.ThisleavesRipplewithsufficientproofthatXRPisnotanunregisteredsecurity,openingthedoorstorenewedtrading.
Thebigquestion,however,iswhetherXRPwillbeagoodinvestmentwitheitherutilityoratleastspeculativepotential.OneoftheworriesisthatXRPhasdriftedsidewaysforyearswithoutbreakingout,andhasnotgonefarabove$1since2017.
Inadditiontothenewsaboutthelawsuit,XRPgainedattentionattheRippleSwellconference.Ripplestateditspotentialpathofdevelopment,aimingtoincludestablecoins,payments,tokenization,andsafecustody.
In2024,RipplestillcatchesupwithsomeofthedevelopmentsinDeFiandretailcryptousage,whilestillaimingtoservebanks.XRPitselfmaynotbenecessaryinsomeusecasesofRipple’snetwork,soglobaladoptionwillnottranslateintoglobaldemandforXRP.Additionally,RipplehassupplieditspartnerswithXRPtokens,sobanksandpaymentinstitutionswillnotbuyXRPontheopenmarket.
Inthepasttwoyears,XRPhasrangedbetween$0.40and$0.68,withbreakoutsquicklyerasedthroughselling.XRPhaswaitedlongforabreakoutfromthoselevels,butnotevenfavorablenewsaboutthelawsuithashelped.Irrationalandoverlyoptimisticscenariosstillaboundonsocialmedia,seeingXRPrallyto$10.
XRPhadasmall-scalerecovery,withopeninterestreturningabove$590M,thehighestlevelsinceApril.XRPtradingvolumesremainbetween$1.2Band$1.5B,stillundertheir2018and2021peaklevelsabove$5Bin24hours.
cryptopolitan.com