- XRP whale transactions dropped 57% as price declined over five consecutive trading sessions.
- Mid-sized holders continued quietly accumulating XRP despite broader market weakness.
- Analysts are closely watching the $1.50 resistance and $1.29 support levels for the next major breakout direction.
XRP whale activity has slowed dramatically over the past several days, with large transactions across the network falling sharply as price momentum weakened. According to fresh on-chain data, transfers worth at least $1 million dropped by roughly 57% within just nine days, signaling that major holders may be stepping back while the market cools off.
At the same time, XRP price slid from around $1.54 on May 14 down to nearly $1.35. The token recorded five straight intraday losses between May 15 and May 19, something traders hadn’t seen in more than two months. Over that short stretch alone, XRP lost around 8% of its value, adding more pressure to an already cautious market environment.
Crypto analyst Ali Martinez pointed directly to the sudden decline in whale activity during this period. Data shared by the analyst showed large XRP transactions falling from 157 trades to just 67. Each of those transactions represented transfers valued at $1 million or more, making the slowdown pretty significant honestly, especially during a period of falling prices.
Martinez explained that large investors appear to be reducing participation as XRP weakens below important price zones. The drop in activity suggests confidence among major holders may have softened in the short term, while broader selling pressure continued hanging over the market.
Whale Transactions Fall as XRP Enters Compression Phase
Despite the decline in high-value transfers, Martinez believes XRP may now be entering what he described as a “compression phase.” In simple terms, the asset appears to be stabilizing inside a tighter trading range while larger market participants wait for a clearer breakout direction.
Compression phases usually bring lower volatility, at least temporarily. They can also help establish cleaner support and resistance levels before a bigger move eventually happens. Right now, XRP seems stuck between uncertainty and cautious accumulation, with neither bulls nor bears fully taking control.
Interestingly though, not all whales stopped buying. Some mid-sized XRP holders quietly continued accumulating during the dip. Wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP increased their combined balance from roughly 3.72 billion XRP to 3.79 billion XRP during the observed period.
That means this group added close to 70 million XRP while price weakness continued. Smaller whale wallets also joined in modestly, though the buying pressure still hasn’t been strong enough to reverse the broader downtrend just yet.
Mid-Sized Wallets Continue Accumulating XRP
Addresses holding between 100,000 and 1 million XRP also slightly increased their exposure during the pullback. Their balances climbed from around 6.31 billion XRP to approximately 6.33 billion XRP, reflecting another 20 million XRP added during the decline.
Martinez noted that while accumulation remains visible among these groups, its impact on overall price action has stayed fairly limited. Larger institutional-sized participants still appear relatively inactive, and that absence continues weighing on momentum across the XRP market.
Another important signal comes from the Bollinger Bands on XRP’s three-day chart. According to Martinez, volatility has tightened to its lowest level in more than a year. Historically, periods of extremely low volatility often lead to sharp price expansions eventually, though predicting the direction remains difficult beforehand.
Because of that, traders are now watching several critical levels very closely. Martinez identified $1.50 as the key breakout resistance, while $1.29 sits as the major support zone underneath current price action. He described the current range between those levels as a “no-trade zone,” where conditions remain uncertain.
Key XRP Levels Could Decide the Next Major Move
If XRP manages to close convincingly above the $1.50 level, Martinez believes momentum could accelerate toward the $1.80 region fairly quickly. A breakout there would likely bring whale participation back into the market as confidence improves.
On the other side, a breakdown below $1.29 could seriously weaken the short-term outlook. In that scenario, XRP may revisit the psychologically important $1.00 support area, which traders have been watching for months now.
For now, XRP continues hovering near $1.35 while whale activity stays unusually quiet. The market looks compressed, cautious, and honestly a bit undecided. But historically, these low-volatility phases rarely last forever.
