XRP News: Exchange Churn Spikes While Binance XRP Reserves Hold Firm

Binance experienced an unusually large increase in XRP exchange activity last week, with average daily inflows reaching 21,718,631 tokens. CryptoQuant data show that the figure was 663% above the exchange’s quarterly baseline.

The size of the increase could suggest heightened selling pressure, but the flow data alone do not establish that whales were preparing to sell. Instead, the transfers were concentrated in several individual sessions, which could reflect traders repositioning around major regulatory and macroeconomic developments.

CLARITY Vote and Fed Hike Coincide With Flow Surge

XRP inflows accelerated around September 16 and 17, following important developments in U.S. regulation and monetary policy.

The Senate failed to move the CLARITY Act forward on September 15 after a 49-50 procedural vote. The legislation, which seeks to clarify the regulatory treatment of digital assets including XRP, was therefore left stalled.

The Federal Reserve raised its target rate by 25 basis points the next day, bringing the range to 3.75%-4.00%. The hike marked the first increase since 2023.

XRP initially slipped toward $1.27 following the Fed announcement before recovering to close at $1.410 on September 19.

The timing of the flow increase is noteworthy, but it does not demonstrate that the regulatory vote or Fed decision directly triggered the transfers. Investors and large holders could have shifted tokens between wallets and exchanges as they reassessed their positions.

The weekly average was heavily influenced by three large inflow days. Binance recorded 91.2 million XRP in inflows on September 11, 44.5 million on September 16 and 41.7 million on September 17.

There were no recorded inflows on September 12, 15, 18 or 19, while September 20 had no available figures for price, open interest, funding or transaction activity.

The rise also extends a broader trend in whale transfers. Binance received about 1.6 billion XRP from whale wallets over the previous 30 days, the highest level since March. Large-wallet activity had declined between May and July before turning higher in August and continuing to rise during September.

Reserve Growth Remains Minimal

Looking only at deposits gives an incomplete view of Binance’s XRP flows. Monthly inflows increased 457%, but outflows also climbed by 167%.

Average daily withdrawals reached 11,565,238 XRP, roughly half the daily inflow figure.

Even after the surge in turnover, Binance held 2,630,628,140 XRP at the end of the week. Its reserve was just 0.22% above the quarterly baseline and 0.34% higher than the previous week.

The limited movement in reserves suggests that the increase in deposits was largely offset by withdrawals. That pattern points more toward active repositioning and higher turnover than a straightforward buildup of XRP awaiting sale.

Derivatives Activity Signals More Volatility

Binance also recorded an average of 788 XRP deposit addresses per day, 129% above the quarterly baseline. The increase suggests that more wallets were participating in the elevated exchange activity.

On-chain activity did not show a similar increase. XRP’s NVT ratio fell 32.1%, while transaction count declined 16.4%, indicating that blockchain activity remained weaker than the exchange-level churn.

Derivatives positioning became more leveraged during the period. Open interest rose to 477.1 million XRP, 9.4% above the quarterly level. The estimated leverage ratio increased to 0.181, representing a 9.1% quarterly gain.

Funding reached 0.004 after doubling from the previous week, increasing the cost for traders maintaining long exposure.

Liquidations also increased across both sides of the market. Short liquidations averaged 2.34 million XRP per day, up 199% week over week, while long liquidations averaged 2.93 million XRP.

The figures show that the market experienced significant pressure in both directions as volatility increased.

Taken together, the data show a sharp rise in XRP exchange turnover without a comparable increase in Binance’s reserves. Higher deposits were accompanied by substantial withdrawals, making the activity consistent with traders and large holders adjusting positions around major regulatory and macroeconomic events.

The data point to greater near-term volatility, but they do not provide enough evidence to conclude that XRP whales are engaged in a sustained distribution campaign.