Ripple (XRP) started February near $1.60 as exchange flows to Binance remained relatively weak. Most daily transfers remained below $20 million, reflecting calm positioning in the market.
Meanwhile, the price gradually declined to $1.55 as sellers slowly took control.
Shortly after, volatility intensified around February 5 when XRP briefly dipped near $1.20 before rebounding sharply.
However, capital inflows during this decline remained close to $10 million, suggesting that this move occurred without significant foreign exchange deposits.
As the month progressed, XRP stabilized between $1.35 and $1.50, while inflows mostly remained below $30 million.
This stable structure meant that most holders avoided aggressive distribution despite increasing geopolitical uncertainty in global markets.
Source: Darkfost/X
The dynamic changed abruptly after February 23.
Binance inflows surpassed $115 million, then accelerated to $160 million around February 25. At the same time, the price only fluctuated between $1.35 and $1.45, showing limited downward expansion.
Then, another cluster of deposits appeared between February 26 and 28, several exceeding $150 million. In total, these spikes contributed to approximately $652 million entering Binance.
This concentration suggests that large entities have repositioned their liquidity rather than a widespread retail capitulation triggered by geopolitical tensions.
Whales Move First as XRP Faces Macro-Driven Market Stress
Whale transfers to Binance remained relatively limited during most of XRP’s early cycles, including the 2018 rally to around $3.80.
However, activity grew noticeably after 2020, with XRP trading between $0.20 and $1.00, with occasional spikes above 10,000 transactions corresponding to phases of volatility.
Source: CryptoQuant
More recently, whale flows have intensified. Since early 2025, several peaks have exceeded 40,000 to 60,000 whale-swap transactions, marking the highest activity in the dataset.
At the same time, XRP fell from above $2.50 to around $1.30 to $1.40, suggesting that the deposits took place during price weakness.
The total whale flux series shows similar bursts, with multiple peaks above 20,000 units. These moves likely reflect the whales’ positioning on liquidity rather than retail panic.
Growing geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran may have accelerated this defensive repositioning, increasing foreign exchange liquidity as uncertainty spread across risky markets.
XRP Resilience Emerges as Futures Markets Reset
XRP derivatives activity shows traders reducing leverage rather than creating aggressive shorts. Futures open interest fell to $2.17 billion as the price stabilized near $1.36.
Meanwhile, funding has slipped slightly negative to –0.0011% at the time of writing, signaling a slight bearish bias. However, the long/short ratio remains close to 49.6%, indicating that the positioning remains broadly balanced.
Source: CoinGlass
Liquidations also remained limited, around $5.38 million, reinforcing the idea that markets are deleveraging without a cascade of selling pressure.
Bitcoin (BTC) reflects a similar pattern. Its open interest declined 2.48% to around $43.19 billion, while funding remained mixed.
Meanwhile, XRP/BTC climbed to 0.00002057 as Bitcoin’s dominance held at nearly 58.1%. Together, these signals suggest that XRP flows reflect strategic repositioning rather than systemic stress in the crypto market.
Final Summary
- XRP exchange inflows totaling approximately $652 million and repeated whale transfers exceeding 40,000 transactions suggest strategic liquidity repositioning.
- Price stability near $1.35 despite falling forward open interest and negative funding indicates controlled deleveraging as spot buyers absorb selling pressure.
