Over the past two weeks, large-scale investors, commonly referred to as whales, have purchased a staggering 340 million XRP, valued at approximately $962 million, during a period of market decline. This accumulation occurred as the token's price hovered around $2.83, suggesting that these major players viewed the downturn as a strategic buying opportunity.
Complementing this whale activity, spot investors withdrew $268 million worth of XRP from exchanges over the past ten days, according to CoinGlass data. Such withdrawals typically indicate a holding strategy rather than a readiness to sell, which often provides underlying support for price rallies.
Derivatives markets also reflected growing bullish sentiment. XRP's Funding Rates flipped positive to 0.0075% in the past 24 hours, indicating that traders are paying fees to maintain long positions betting on price increases. Additionally, Open Interest climbed to $8.02 billion, suggesting increased capital inflow into XRP futures, with long traders dominating new market entries.
Technically, XRP has been consolidating within a descending triangle pattern, testing a key support level near $2.80. Analysts suggest that a successful hold at this support could act as a springboard for a breakout, with projections pointing toward a potential run to the $4 region.
Institutional interest continues to bolster XRP's outlook. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reported that XRP futures surpassed $1 billion in volume, marking it as the fastest-growing product of its kind on the platform. Furthermore, 15 spot XRP ETF applications have been filed with the U.S. SEC, highlighting growing Wall Street recognition. Corporate adoption is also rising, with Japanese gaming firm Gumi announcing plans to purchase $17 million in XRP, and Hyperscale Data (GPUS) aiming to raise $125 million, part of which will be allocated to XRP and Bitcoin acquisitions.
Despite a 6.7% weekly decline and warnings from analysts like Peter Brandt about potential downside risks if support at $2.78 fails, the combination of whale accumulation, positive derivatives metrics, and institutional backing paints a predominantly optimistic medium to long-term picture for XRP.