XRP traded in a narrow range on Thursday as traders focused on on-chain signals suggesting that large holders may be quietly accumulating during the recent downturn.
Meanwhile, Santiment data shows that the number of XRP Ledger wallets holding at least 1 million XRP increased by 32 over the past three months, despite a 29% decline in XRP’s market capitalization during the same period.
The divergence has attracted attention because it suggests that some of the network’s largest holders may be accumulating while broader market sentiment remains cautious. The firm described the trend as a sign that “stronger hands are absorbing panic” and that patience may be replacing short-term speculation.
However, XRP has fallen nearly 4% over the past week as selling pressure continued to weigh on the broader cryptocurrency market.
The analytics firm also pointed to the growing role of Ripple’s broader ecosystem. While XRP’s price action has been relatively subdued through much of the summer, Santiment noted that the RLUSD stablecoin has become a more meaningful institutional product, while Ripple’s payments, custody, and tokenization infrastructure continues to support settlement-related use cases on the XRP Ledger.
 
Network activity has also shown signs of improvement. CryptoQuant data indicates that active addresses rose from 12,195 on July 12 to 20,550 on August 12, an increase of 8,372 addresses, or roughly 68%.
However, the rise was not a smooth upward trend. Daily activity fluctuated considerably throughout the month, with several sharp spikes followed by pullbacks, meaning the 68% figure reflects the change between the start and end of the period rather than a steady climb in participation.
The combination of increasing large-holder wallets and rising network activity has led some analysts to argue that underlying engagement with the XRP Ledger may be strengthening even as market prices remain weak.
Furthermore, on-chain activity has strengthened the accumulation case. Wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP have added roughly 1.23 billion tokens since the start of 2026, highlighting continued buying interest among large holders.
That trend has also appeared in recent exchange flows. Large holders accumulated another 380 million XRP in the week leading up to August 11, while 81% of Binance outflows linked to large holders involved transfers to self-custody, suggesting a preference to hold rather than immediately sell.
Nevertheless, broader market sentiment has cooled in recent weeks, with XRP retreating substantially from its 2025 highs as weaker ETF flows, subdued speculative activity, and a lack of clear near-term catalysts weigh on investor appetite.
Notably, some analysts are optimistic that XRP’s steep correction has pushed the token into deeply oversold territory. Popular analyst Ali Martinez noted that XRP has fallen more than 70% from its July 2025 peak near $3.66, while new buy signals are emerging following the sharp decline.
The pundit also pointed to a sharp increase in network participation, saying active addresses have surged since the start of August, adding to the view that blockchain activity is recovering faster than price performance.
At the time of writing, XRP changed hands at $1.01, reflecting a 0.57% decline over the past 24 hours.
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