Just went back and looked at how XRP moved through January 2026 - pretty interesting chart pattern actually. Started the month strong around $1.85, then pumped hard to nearly $2.42 in that first week. That's like a 30% move right there, mostly on the back of ETF money flowing in and that Ripple legal thing finally getting resolved. Supply on exchanges was drying up too, which helped push things higher early on. But then the whole thing just lost steam halfway through. You could see the selling kick in, price kept making lower highs and lower lows as we moved toward month-end. By the time January closed out, we'd already broken below support and settled around $1.72-$1.74. So basically a 6-7% loss for the month despite that hot start. What killed the momentum was the usual suspects - macro uncertainty, inflation staying sticky, people rethinking rate cuts. Plus profit-taking and some technical breakdown. The XRP news from January showed that fundamentals might be holding up okay, but short-term price action is still just riding whatever the broader market's doing. We ended up consolidating below $1.80 with everyone waiting to see what happens next. Interesting to see how that early 2026 rally just fizzled out.

I just noticed something quite strange about XRP — the number of large whales is decreasing sharply, but the mysterious part is that the total XRP held by the remaining whales has reached its highest level in 7 years. This seems odd at first glance, but it tells a completely different story. According to data from Santiment, recently, the number of XRP wallets holding 100M or more has decreased by over 20%, with about 569 whale wallets disappearing in just a few weeks. But interestingly, during that time, the total XRP accumulated by the remaining whales skyrocketed to 48B — a figure not seen in 7 years. This pattern isn’t negative; it actually indicates a reorganization process — weaker or inactive whales are leaving, while stronger players are quietly accumulating. Why is this happening? There are a few reasons. First, after strong price rallies earlier this year, some old whale addresses may have decided to take profits or transfer funds elsewhere. Second, some high-value wallets might have been transferred to organizational managers or exchanges, reducing the number of whales on-chain but keeping the funds within the system. Third, long-dormant wallets are sometimes consolidated, reducing the count but not affecting the total supply. Looking at history, the last time XRP showed a similar pattern was in 2017 and 2020 — both times before significant price rallies. This suggests that accumulation by major players is often a more positive than negative signal. However, XRP’s current price is still under selling pressure. According to technical analysis, RSI is heading toward lower levels, and capital flow is still leaving. Therefore, the expectation is that the price will test the support zone around $1.97–$1.92 in the near future. The bulls have protected this zone since the beginning of the year, and they are likely to continue doing so. Compared to current data, XRP is at $1.35, below the forecast, indicating that selling pressure remains quite strong. But if whale accumulation continues, this could be a sign of upcoming stability. Viet569 — monitoring this situation, it seems that when big players tighten control, it’s usually the beginning of major moves.

Institutional funds need to enter the market, and ultimately they come down to clearing, custody, and risk control. After Ripple acquired Hidden Road, $XRP 's story is no longer just about payments; it's more about moving toward the institutional infrastructure layer. $USTC