XRP has surged past the $1.50 mark following a massive 6.7% gain over the past 24 hours and an 8.8% increase over the last seven days.
The Ripple-affiliated token has managed to absolutely crush the performance of every other major cryptocurrency in the top 10.
It has outpaced the modest gains of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), BNB, and Solana (SOL) during the same timeframe.
In fact, it is one of the best-performing tokens in the top 100.
Whale accumulation
Aggressive accumulation by large-scale holders is believed to be the main reason behind the sudden price surge.
According to data from Santiment Intelligence, "whale" wallets holding at least 10 million XRP have dramatically increased their positions.
These top-tier wallets now hold a combined 45.83 billion XRP, which translates to an eye-popping 68.48% of the coin's entire supply.
The visual data confirms that this is the highest level of supply concentration among these massive wallets since May 2018.
Notably, the number of wallets holding at least 10,000 XRP recently reached an all-time high of 332,230. This shows a consistent accumulation phase by mid-to-large holders despite previous market uncertainty.
The Coinbase catalyst
A massive purchase of approximately $1 million worth of XRP on Coinbase is likely the catalyst that has finally allowed XRP to shine after months of underperformance. Notably, the breakout occurred just seconds later.
There was also strong buying support from the South Korean exchange Upbit. XRP, of course, is the darling of the country's risk-taking retail traders.
Growing risk appetite
The demand in the Asian market has been rather remarkable. Recent flow data indicates that XRP's trading volume on Upbit, and its counterpart Bithumb, has actually crossed above the trading volumes of both Bitcoin and Ethereum combined.
Historically, when South Korean exchange volume spikes in this manner while XRP approaches key resistance levels, it shows rising local risk appetite.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
