A significant shift in investor sentiment is unfolding, highlighted by a Dubai-based crypto investor's public declaration that she sold all her XRP holdings to increase her exposure to the meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB). The investor, known as Sheikhah Alya, posted on X: "Just sold all my XRP and got more SHIB," a move that ignited debate within the crypto community between utility-focused tokens and speculative meme assets.
This decision follows her bold January prediction that SHIB could reach $1 by 2026, signaling a strong conviction in the token's long-term potential despite its current price being a fraction of a cent. The move was met with criticism from XRP supporters, who questioned exiting a token with established use cases in cross-border payments for a high-volatility meme coin.
Concurrently, XRP is experiencing a stark divergence in institutional flows. According to the latest CoinShares report, XRP exchange-traded products (ETPs) attracted $63.1 million in net inflows for the week ending February 9, 2026. This occurred against a backdrop of a net $187 million outflow from the broader crypto investment products market, with Bitcoin alone seeing $264.4 million exit. XRP's year-to-date inflows now stand at $109 million, with total assets under management around $2.64 billion.
Meanwhile, on-chain activity for SHIB shows signs of accumulation. A whale moved 23.8 billion SHIB (worth approximately $142,000) from a Coinbase hot wallet to a private, unknown address, as tracked by Arkham Intelligence. This pattern of large off-exchange transfers suggests potential cold storage behavior, which could fuel narratives of a supply crunch.
The market outlook remains cautious. Bitcoin struggles to hold above $71,000, and Ethereum tests the critical $2,000 support level. In contrast, XRP's consistent inflows and price action above $1.45 support a narrative of isolated strength, while SHIB's price remains heavily depressed from its all-time highs, trading around $0.000006.
