An intriguing shift is taking place beneath the surface of XRP’s on-chain footprint, and this time it is tied to one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges. Coinbase, which was previously holding an estimated 970 million XRP across 52 cold wallets, no longer has that same stockpile, according to XRPWallets.
As of this week, only 35 of those addresses remain funded, marking a surprising 40% drop in just weeks.
Back in June, 10 of Coinbase’s wallets contained 26.8 million XRP each, while 42 others held 16.8 million each.
Fast forward to July 29, and most of those wallets have been left with only a few XRP or have been emptied entirely, as large outbound transfers are being tracked in real time by on-chain watchers. A notable transaction involved the transfer of 16.8 million XRP from a wallet labelled “Cold Wallet 400” to a Coinbase hot wallet.
What's going on?
One theory is that XRP is being collected into new subwallets, which are often associated with exchanges such as Bitstamp and custodians such as BitGo. Both of these are connected to Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity infrastructure.
Another possibility is that this is simply preparatory work: realigning storage in anticipation of heavier usage or price volatility as XRP’s market conditions change.
The withdrawals do not suggest panic, but they do appear calculated. With smaller sums landing in Ripple-associated channels, this may be more about operational setup than exit strategies.
One thing is clear, though: Coinbase’s role in holding large XRP reserves is shrinking fast, and this is happening just as interest in more widespread use of XRP is growing.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team