According to crypto analytics portal Santiment, the wallets of major XRP holders have seen significant additions by the end of this year. These are what are known as whales and sharks, investors whose positions in XRP range from 1 million to 10 million coins.
By December, both the number of addresses of this size and the percentage of the XRP supply held on them had peaked, according to the data cited. Thus, the number of whale and shark addresses reached 1,617, and the combined percentage of XRP held on them represents 7.23% of the token's circulating supply, which currently stands at 56.28 million XRP.
Difference in approach
The increase in the rate of accumulation, as can be seen in Santiment's charts, began in mid-November. Interestingly, around the same time, U.Today reported inflows into XRP-focused investment products, based on CoinShares data. At the time, it noted that large inflows reflected positive investor sentiment about the outcome of the SEC's case against Ripple.
However, the collapse of FTX happened next, and while traditional financial institutions were leaving crypto-oriented products, large XRP investors, as we now know, continued to accumulate. It is worth noting that then as now the price of XRP is at similar levels, around $0.35 per token.