XRP Active Addresses Halve—Will Whale Sell-Off Push It Below $1?

▲ Ripple (XRP)

The number of on-chain active addresses, an indicator of vitality within the XRP (Ripple) ecosystem, has plunged to its lowest level of the year, while massive sell-offs by whales have poured into exchanges, casting a dark shadow over the psychological support level of $1.

On February 24 (local time), cryptocurrency media outlet Finbold reported, citing data from on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, that the number of active addresses on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) fell sharply to 14,551 as of February 24. This marks a 55% collapse from this year’s peak of 32,684 recorded on February 10, signaling a noticeable slowdown in user participation and activity across the broader blockchain network.

However, experts suggest that this apparent drop in activity metrics may not necessarily indicate a sharp decline in overall demand, but rather a shift in institutional trading from public markets to private permissioned pools. Ripple plans to introduce native lending functions and zero-knowledge proof-based privacy tools through the upcoming XRPL 3.0 framework, which could expand on-chain credit markets and deepen institutional participation, potentially reversing the current negative trend.

Nevertheless, new concerns are emerging that liquidity fragmentation between open order books and permissioned order books could hinder proper price discovery. As a growing share of trading volume occurs in credential-based closed environments, traditional retail-focused metrics are no longer sufficient to fully capture the reality of on-chain activity. Still, with a 2026 upgrade aimed at enhancing tokenization and institutional features, along with experiments such as SBI Holdings of Japan issuing XRP-reward blockchain bonds, the long-term outlook remains constructive.

The immediate issue, however, is harsh price action and signs of whale capitulation. XRP, which has already dropped nearly 30% this year to hover around $1.33, recently faced severe selling pressure as more than 31 million tokens were transferred to the Binance exchange in a single day. Given that most of this massive inflow originated from whale wallets, if even a portion of these holdings hits the market, selling pressure could intensify dramatically, heightening the risk of a سقوط below the key $1 support level.

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