XRP rebounds 32% as ETF inflows clash with heavy whale flows

XRP is on track for its strongest monthly gain in more than a year, even as heavy whale flows test the durability of the rally.

XRP rose 32% in August to near $1.40, its best month since July 2025, as ETF inflows and RLUSD growth offset heavy whale activity.

US spot XRP ETFs recorded about $23.87 million in net inflows on Aug. 25, their largest daily haul since May 11, extending a run of positive flows to nine consecutive sessions, according to CryptoSlate data.

Whale inflows into Binance reached about 1.451 billion XRP over 30 days, the highest four-week total in four months, while large withdrawals surged to 231 million tokens by Aug. 21, more than four times the level two days earlier, CryptoQuant data shows.

The two-way flows leave XRP approaching the final days of its strongest month since July 2025, with fresh demand still entering the market but large holders increasingly active on both sides of the trade.

The token traded near $1.40 as of press time, down about 5 percent over the past 24 hours, after climbing as high as $1.70 during last week's broader crypto market surge. The recovery follows a slide below $1, with XRP touching a cycle low of $0.9877 on Aug. 17 before reaching about $1.51 on Aug. 23, a gain of roughly 53 percent in less than a week, per CryptoRank data.

ETF inflows accelerate even as XRP retreats

Institutional demand has persisted after the initial breakout. The Aug. 25 haul was the products' largest daily inflow since May 11, when they attracted $25.8 million, and extended their run of positive flows to nine consecutive trading sessions. The funds have pulled in more than $80 million of fresh capital during August, taking cumulative net subscriptions into US spot XRP funds to about $1.59 billion since launch, with net assets of roughly $1.46 billion at the end of Tuesday's session.

The persistence of those flows contrasts with earlier periods when ETF demand failed to translate into stronger price performance. XRP funds had already accumulated more than $1.47 billion of net inflows by late June even as the token slid toward $1, showing that ETF purchases alone have not historically been sufficient to establish a price floor.

RLUSD growth adds liquidity on XRPL

Dollar-denominated activity on the XRP Ledger has also accelerated, with Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin crossing $2 billion in circulating supply last week. About $963 million of RLUSD was circulating on XRPL as of Aug. 25, with roughly $1.05 billion on Ethereum, putting nearly half of the stablecoin's total supply on the XRPL less than two years after its December 2024 launch. Monthly RLUSD transfer volume across the two networks reached about $11.8 billion.

The expansion stands out against a softer backdrop for the broader stablecoin market. Evernorth, the largest public company holding XRP, said its analysis of ledger data last week showed RLUSD outstanding on XRPL had increased 39 percent since May 20 to about $934 million. Over roughly the same period, total stablecoin supply across platforms had contracted about 6 percent from its May peak, a decline of approximately $20 billion.

Those flows point to increased stablecoin turnover on XRPL, though they do not translate directly into XRP purchases. RLUSD can be issued, transferred, and redeemed without creating equivalent demand for the ledger's native token.

Whale flows turn two-way as the rally matures

XRP's largest holders have moved extraordinary amounts of the token both onto and off Binance during the rebound. CryptoQuant reported that daily whale inflows to exchanges surged to roughly 460 million XRP during the rally, their highest level since February. More recent data shows whale inflows into Binance reached approximately 1.451 billion XRP over 30 days, the highest four-week total in four months.

Meanwhile, Darkfost, a CryptoQuant analyst, pointed out that large XRP withdrawals from Binance surged to 231 million tokens by Aug. 21, more than four times the level recorded two days earlier and the highest in about six months. At recent prices, the movement was worth more than $330 million.

Exchange deposits can precede selling, but they can also reflect trading, collateral management, or portfolio reallocation and do not establish that the transferred XRP was sold. Without net-flow and wallet-level evidence, the simultaneous surge in deposits makes the direction of overall whale positioning less clear.

The scale of the activity shows how rapidly large-holder behavior has changed as XRP recovered from below $1. ETF investors have continued adding exposure, RLUSD supply on XRPL is approaching $1 billion, and whales are withdrawing unusually large amounts from Binance. At the same time, the 460 million XRP daily inflow spike and 1.451 billion XRP accumulated deposits show that substantial supply has also been moving toward the exchange.

That two-way positioning leaves XRP approaching the final days of its strongest month since July 2025, with fresh demand still entering the market, but with large holders increasingly active on both sides of the trade.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.