Over the last two months, the supply of XRP in exchanges has recorded a 1.35 billion decrease in terms of total tokens held. This shift is raising questions on what the big players, commonly referred to as whales, are up to behind the scenes.
Significant Decline in Exchange Balances
According to on-chain data shared by ChartNerd, XRP’s total exchange balance dropped from 3.95 billion to 2.6 billion tokens. This marks a 45% reduction over a period of fewer than 60 days.
$XRP‘s total balance on exchanges has fallen off a cliff, dropping from 3.95 billion tokens to roughly 2.6 billion, marking a 45% collapse in just under 60 days —1.35 billion #XRP removed from public order books. pic.twitter.com/flh3UXCQAp
— ChartNerd
(@ChartNerdTA) December 9, 2025
Such a shift could mean that tokens are being moved into cold wallets. When coins leave exchanges, they are less likely to be sold in the short term. As CryptoPotato reported, over 510 million XRP moved between large wallets in a single week, raising questions around distribution or storage changes. Meanwhile, XRP Ledger velocity has risen, showing that tokens are changing wallets more often.
While the exchange balance dropped, XRP’s price also moved lower. It is trading at $2.08 as of press time, down more than 42% from the July 2025 high of $3.65. In the last week, the price has fallen by 5%. The trading volume in the past 24 hours reached 3.6 billion, an upsurge of 38% compared to the weekly average.
Although activity levels went up, the price could not sustain above $2.10 after briefly surging to $2.17, showing that sellers may be active near that level.
Technical Pattern Suggests Potential 16% Move
XRP is trading inside a symmetrical triangle pattern on the 4-hour chart, according to analyst Ali Martinez. These patterns often lead to breakouts once price pressure builds near the tip of the triangle.
“$XRP is trading inside a triangle and setting up for a 16% move,” Martinez posted.
A move above the upper trendline could push the price toward $2.4 to $2.45. A drop below support may send the price to the $1.8–$1.85 zone. Martinez also flagged $1.94 as the level XRP needs to hold to bounce higher.
Long-Term Structure Targets a Potential $22 Peak
Analyst CW shared a chart showing XRP in a four-phase market cycle. This cycle includes a base, a sideways range, a tightening pattern, and a breakout move. The current setup mirrors a pattern seen in 2017.
Notably, the chart places the next possible price target at $22. This level is based on a Fibonacci extension of 6.618 from the prior move. On the weekly chart, the Stochastic RSI is rising from oversold levels. In past cycles, this indicator turned upward ahead of strong price increases.