On-chain Data Reveals Changes in XRP Whale Holding Concentration

Over the past year, XRP's holding concentration has shown a divergence pattern of "whales accumulate, retail retreats": whale addresses holding 10 million to 100 million XRP have cumulatively increased their holdings by over 4.6 billion tokens, with total holdings exceeding 12 billion for the first time. However, medium-sized addresses (100,000 to 1 million XRP) reduced holdings by about 1.3 billion tokens over the same period, leading to an overall increase in concentration. A significant portion of the large holdings belongs to exchange custodial wallets.

1. Check the Rich List: See the Holding Thresholds from Top 10% to Top 0.01%

What to do: Use the rich list function of an XRPL block explorer to view the holding thresholds and wallet counts at each percentile.

How to do it:

1. Open XRPScan, the most commonly used real-time block explorer for the XRP Ledger.

2. View current threshold data for each tier (as of early 2026):

3. Enter any XRP address in the search box at the top right of the page to query its current ranking percentile.

What completes this step: Clearly know that the 1% threshold is about 46,000 XRP and the 10% threshold is about 2,300 XRP, and be able to look up the ranking range for any address.

Note: The top 10 addresses control about 19–20% of the circulating supply, but most are exchange cold wallets (e.g., Binance, Bithumb), representing the combined assets of millions of users, not a single whale.

2. Track Total Whale Holdings Changes: See the Big Picture

What to do: Use Santiment or other on-chain analysis tools to track the total holding trends of whales of a specific size.

How to do it:

1. Watch the total holdings of addresses holding 10 million to 100 million XRP:

   • July 2025 (before the decline started): about 8 billion XRP

   • August–December 2025: increasingly accumulated to 11.18 billion XRP

   • July 2026: exceeded 12.13 billion XRP for the first time

   • Cumulative increase during the bear cycle: 4.63 billion XRP (worth about $4.9 billion)

2. Watch the number of "millionaire" addresses holding ≥1 million XRP:

   • October–December 2025: decreased by 784

   • January 2026: increased by 42 (first positive growth since September 2025)

3. Watch the number of super-whales holding ≥100 million XRP:

   • Decreased by 20.6% in eight weeks (down 569)

   • But the total holdings of the remaining super-whale wallets reached 48 billion XRP, a seven-year high — indicating supply is concentrating into fewer addresses.

What completes this step: Confirm that whales have been accumulating over the past year, but the accumulation is mainly concentrated in mid-sized whales (10 million to 100 million tier), while the number of super-whales (≥100 million) is actually decreasing but individual positions are larger.

Common failure reasons:

• Mistaking exchange wallets for whales: In the top 20 of the rich list, Bithumb and Binance wallets each hold about 1.7–1.8 billion XRP. These are custodial wallets and do not represent the market behavior of a single institution.

• Confusing "decrease in address count" with "selling": A reduction in the number of super-whale addresses doesn't necessarily mean net selling — it could also be several large holders consolidating assets into fewer addresses, which instead indicates rising concentration.

3. See Structural Divergence: Whale vs. Mid-Sized Addresses' Hedging Operations

What to do: Compare the directional operations of addresses of different sizes over the same time period to gauge the degree of market divergence.

How to do it:

Whales (10 million–100 million XRP): Accumulation direction

• Continuous net buying since August 2025

• Even as XRP price fell from $3.6 in July 2025 to $1.06 in July 2026 (down over 70%), they kept adding positions

Mid-sized addresses (100,000–1 million XRP): Distribution direction

• Cumulatively sold about 1.3 billion XRP over the same period

• Exited amid the ongoing price decline, forming a clear divergence with whales

What completes this step: Able to state the core conclusion that "over the past year, whales and mid-sized addresses operated in completely opposite directions," and know the specific scale of increases and decreases on both sides.

4. Verify "Real Concentration": Remove Exchange Custodial Wallets

What to do: Use on-chain labeling tools to identify exchange wallets, then look at holding concentration excluding these addresses.

How to do it:

1. On XRPScan, check the top 10 addresses of the rich list, noting if there are labels like "Binance," "Bithumb," "Uphold," "UPbit."

2. Calculate the actual 1% threshold after excluding exchange wallets — since exchanges pool many retail assets, the 1% threshold (about 46,000 XRP) can still be used as a criterion for large holders.

3. Note: Ripple's escrow accounts release up to 1 billion XRP per month, with unused portions returned to escrow. These escrow addresses (about 33.6 billion XRP) occupy multiple spots in the top 10 rich list, but they do not participate in market trading and are not "whales."

What completes this step: Able to distinguish three types of "large addresses" — Ripple escrow (not trading), exchange cold wallets (representing retail), and real whales (market participants that can be tracked).

Risk reminder:

• XRP price has retraced over 70% from its $3.6 high, currently around $1.06. Whales buying during the decline does not mean the bottom is in — mid-sized addresses' selling shows market divergence persists.

• Supply concentration trends may affect network risk structure: Fewer wallets control a record amount of XRP supply; if these addresses sell off in a concentrated manner, the slippage impact would be greater.

How to confirm you have completed the holding concentration analysis?

Open XRPScan and look up the ranking of any XRP address, confirming that you can say: 1% threshold ~46,000 XRP, 10% threshold ~2,300 XRP, whale (10 million–100 million tier) holdings increased from 8 billion to 12.1 billion over the past year. If you can also identify which large addresses are exchange custodial rather than real whales, you've mastered the analytical framework.

Continue to monitor whale holding data, focusing on whether holdings of addresses holding "10 million–100 million XRP" continue to grow — if that number starts to turn downward, the current whale accumulation may be nearing its end. Additionally, whether mid-sized addresses (100,000–1 million XRP) stop reducing holdings is an important reference for judging if market sentiment is stabilizing.