XRP has experienced a staggering decline of 50% since the onset of the current market downtrend, which began in Q4 2025. Despite this significant drop, a notable segment of cryptocurrency whales has taken advantage of the situation, amassing a total of 3 billion tokens during this turbulent period. The ongoing bearish trend has not only impacted XRP but has also reverberated throughout the broader cryptocurrency market.
To provide context, XRP started October 2025 with a price of $2.84 and a market capitalization valued at $170.5 billion. As of today, its price has plummeted to $1.41, reflecting a decline of 50.3% from its October figures. In fact, XRP hit a low of $1.11 on February 6, marking a 61% decrease from its peak in October. The asset”s market capitalization has consequently shrunk from $170.5 billion to $86 billion, indicating a staggering loss of $85 billion in value. This makes XRP the third-largest contributor to the $1.52 trillion lost across the cryptocurrency market, trailing only behind Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Interestingly, while the price of XRP has taken a hit, whales have seized the opportunity to bolster their holdings. Specifically, addresses that hold between 10 million and 100 million XRP tokens saw their cumulative balance rise significantly. As of October 1, 2025, these addresses collectively held $7.89 billion worth of XRP. As the downtrend unfolded, these investors increased their holdings, particularly during a sharp decline from $2.5 to $1.81 in late November. Their total balance surged from 8.33 billion XRP to 10.82 billion tokens by late November, and they have continued to sustain this accumulation trend into the present, now holding 10.9 billion XRP tokens. This indicates that they have acquired 3.01 billion XRP tokens since the start of the downtrend.
In contrast, XRP sharks—those holding between 100,000 and 1 million tokens—have taken a different approach. These addresses held a total of 6.55 billion XRP tokens as of October 1, 2025, but their holdings have now decreased to 6.33 billion, reflecting a distribution of 220 million XRP during the ongoing price decline.
The current situation showcases the contrasting strategies employed by different investor tiers within the XRP ecosystem, further emphasizing the complexities of market behavior amid prolonged downturns.
