XRP Whales Suddenly Amass 190M Tokens in 24 Hours: What’s Coming?

XRP whales suddenly accumulated 190 million tokens within a single day amid the renewed bearish pressure that has kept XRP below $1.

The move comes as bears continue to gain ground around key price levels. Notably, sellers took control of $3 in October 2025, $2 in January 2026, and $1.50 in May 2026. Now, they appear to be trying to keep XRP below the important $1 level.

The selling pressure recently grew stronger after XRP recorded its first weekly close below $1 since reclaiming the level in November 2024. 

XRP remains below $1 and currently trades around $0.99. However, the latest whale activity suggests that some large holders are using the latest decline to add more XRP to their holdings.

XRP Whales Add 190M Tokens in One Day

Data from Santiment, a market intelligence platform, shows that XRP whales holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP increased their combined balance from 3.84 billion XRP on Aug. 16 to 4.03 billion XRP on Aug. 17. This indicates that the group added roughly 190 million XRP in just one day.

The timing of the accumulation is also worth noting, considering XRP’s recent price action. For context, XRP dropped from $1.001 to $0.9925 on Aug. 17, suggesting that these whales may have bought during the move below $1. 

Following the accumulation spree, the XRP price recovered above the key level, rising nearly 1% to $1.002 on August 17. However, the recovery failed to hold, and prices have since fallen below $1 again. At the time of writing, XRP trades around $0.99268.

Other Large XRP Holders Are Buying Too

The sharp increase among wallets holding 1 million to 10 million XRP stands out, but other large holders have also been building their positions in recent weeks. 

Specifically, wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP increased their combined balance from 11.62 billion XRP in mid-June to 12.22 billion XRP currently. This represents an increase of about 600 million XRP over the past five weeks. 

At the same time, wallets holding between 100,000 and 1 million XRP have also been adding XRP since early June, although their accumulation has come at a slower pace. On June 5, this smaller group held 6.31 billion XRP. Its combined balance has now risen to 6.38 billion XRP

Number of XRP Whales Hit a Yearly High

The latest data also shows a sharp rise in the number of wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP. Their number increased from 1,524 wallets on August 16 to 1,612 on Aug. 17, adding 88 new wallets within 24 hours. Meanwhile, those holding 100,000 to 1 million XRP have continued to see a gradual increase since mid-June.

The increase pushed this group to a new yearly high in terms of wallet count. Before this jump, the number of wallets in the category had remained below 1,600 since a sharp decline in December 2025.

Higher XRP balances and a growing number of wallets in this range could be an important development for XRP. It does not guarantee that the token will immediately recover, especially while sellers continue to defend the area below $1. 

However, continued whale accumulation could help provide support if selling pressure starts to ease. The major question now is whether these large holders will continue buying if XRP remains below $1 or if further weakness could change their approach.