XRP is facing renewed market pressure as a sharp decline in derivatives activity coincides with a massive whale transfer to a major exchange, raising fresh questions about investor sentiment.
On-chain data flagged by Whale Alert shows that approximately 89.8 million XRP, valued at around $119 million, was transferred to Coinbase a few hours ago. Large inflows to centralized exchanges are closely monitored by traders, as they can signal that holders may be preparing to sell or reposition assets.
While such whale movements do not guarantee immediate selling pressure, they tend to increase short-term market caution due to the added liquidity now available on trading platforms.
Meanwhile, as earlier reported by Cryptopolitan, XRP holders are also increasingly exploring passive yield opportunities of up to 10% annually as decentralized finance tools and new financial infrastructure continue to expand.
A whale transferred roughly 89,828,700 XRP, at about $119 million
According to Whalealert[.]io, an investor moved roughly 89,828,700 XRP, valued at about $119 million. The assets were routed through an intermediary wallet before being forwarded to a Coinbase address.
Normally, large exchange inflows suggest that investors may be planning to sell or restructure their positions, as assets are more readily tradable on exchanges. Then again, transfers like this point to asset repositioning, over-the-counter settlements, or custody transfers.
Even so, the size and timing of the whale transfer are significant for those watching this payments-focused crypto, as large flows can sway sentiment despite uncertain motives.
At the same time, XRP’s derivatives market continues to show signs of weakness. According to data from Glassnode, XRP open interest has dropped significantly since the October 2025 market crash, when a wave of liquidations wiped out leveraged positions.
XRP open interest declined to roughly $2.01 billion
Open interest fell from roughly 7 billion XRP in early October 2025 to about 2 billion XRP, marking a 71% collapse. Since then, it has declined further to approximately 1.5 billion XRP, indicating that traders have yet to return to the market in meaningful numbers.
Earlier, Glassnode also showed that XRP investors who bought above the $2 mark in the past year have been realizing losses of $20 million and as much as $110M each day since November 2025.
In response to that analysis, Bitcoin Fair Value suggested that deleveraging is a much-needed reset that would shake off the speculators, making the underlying price trend more sustainable.
Before October last year, XRP open interest was on the rise. CoinGlass showed that XRP open interest soared by billions, peaking at over $10 billion in July 2025, up from about $4 billion in June 2025. The increase in OI coincided with a price rise to a new all-time high of $3.6.
The market didn’t just die out after the July high—active positions stayed remarkably high for the next few months, ranging between $7.3 billion and $8.2 billion. However, after the Oct. 10, 2025, crypto market crash, XRP OI shrank by over $5.5 billion in just twelve days. The slow bleed didn’t stop there—XRP’s betting volume hovered around $3 billion until January before slipping even lower.
So far, data from Santiment shows that XRP retail sentiment has declined to its third-weakest reading in two years. The positive-to-negative ratio of XRP comments on X and Reddit has entered the FUD zone. The analytics firm has argued that when sentiment becomes this negative, short-term price rebounds have often followed.
Nonetheless, the firm’s analysts noted that asset prices could rise despite prevailing crowd sentiment. They contended, “Historically, when bullish comments get replaced by this level of bearish ones, the probability of a relief rally climbs significantly higher.”
They also stated that, with retail traders bailing after the XRP’s 63% nine-month drop, the current gloom is a prime opportunity for patient buyers to step in.
As XRP navigates this phase of heavy deleveraging and shifting sentiment, the convergence of weakening derivatives activity and significant whale movements is keeping traders on edge.
For now, XRP remains at a crossroads, with market participants closely watching whether this period of caution evolves into renewed momentum or further downside pressure.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/xrp-jitters-after-119m-whale-move/
