XRP Short-Term Holders Drive Selling Amid Market Crash

• Short-term holders dominated the selling activity during the recent market crash.
• XRP whales have been accumulating more tokens during the crash, adding over $1 billion worth of tokens.
• XRP may bounce off the lower boundary of a descending channel if it fails to hold the $1.96 support level.

Ripple’s XRP is down 4% on Thursday, struggling near the support at $2.12. Whales are buying the recent selling pressure from short-term holders following the crash.

XRP Whales Absorb Selling Pressure from Short-Term Holders

Short-term holders have led the selling activity in XRP since the market crash. The Spent Coins Age Band indicates that tokens spent in the 1D to 7D and 90D to 180D cohorts were mostly sold.

XRP Spent Coins Age Band. Source: Santiment

Further analysis with the Network Realized Profit/Loss metric shows that 1D to 7D investors aim to cut losses through quick selling, while 90D to 180D investors are realizing profits swiftly.

XRP Network Realized Profit/Loss. Source: Santiment

On the contrary, XRP whales have been heavily buying the dip since the crash on Monday. Whales holding between 1M-10M XRP and 10M-100M XRP increased their collective holdings by 440M XRP, valued at nearly $1 billion.

XRP Supply Distribution. Source: Santiment

Additionally, Ripple announced its expansion of crypto custody services in South Korea through a partnership with BDACS Korea, which will help institutions secure their XRP and RLUSD stablecoin holdings. This partnership aims to strengthen Ripple’s presence in South Korea, which is a major market for XRP, and support the development of the XRP Ledger.

XRP Potential Bounce Off Descending Channel Support

XRP faced $6.37 million in futures liquidations over the past 24 hours, with $3.95 million from longs and $2.42 million from shorts, according to Coinglass data.

Since a rejection near the 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), XRP is struggling for support in the $2.24 to $2.12 zone, within a descending channel trend.

XRP/USDT 4-hour chart

If bearish momentum continues and XRP cannot maintain the $1.96 support level, it may find support at the channel’s lower boundary. On the other hand, XRP needs to push above the upper channel boundary to reverse the bearish trend. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Awesome Oscillator (AO) are currently below neutral levels, indicating prevailing bearish pressure.