XRP's XRP$1.8865 price has fallen about 4% this month, starting the new year on a negative note. Yet on-chain data shows a positive trend underneath.

The number of "millionaire" wallets, or those holding at least 1 million XRP, has increased for the first time since September 2025, according to data source Santiment.

Their number rose by 42 this month to 2,016, ending four months of declines. XRP is the payments-focused cryptocurrency used by fintech company Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions.

"A net of +42 wallets with at least 1M XRP have returned to the ledger, an encouraging sign for the long-term," Santiment said on X.

The good news for the XRP bulls doesn't end there. The U.S.-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to XRP have registered a net inflow of $91.72 million this month. These funds amassed $666 million and $499 million in investor money in November and December, respectively, according to data source SoSoValue.

This trend starkly contrasts the decline in demand for bitcoin BTC$88,215.96 ETFs, which have processed redemptions worth $278 million this month, following over $4 billion in outflows in final two months of 2025.

Still, XRP's price remains in a broad downtrend, as seen in the chart below. The cryptocurrency last traded at $1.88, down 1.7% on a 24-hour basis.

The token has failed to reclaim its 50-day moving average this month, with rallies repeatedly fading near the $2 handle. That suggests larger holders may be positioning for a longer-term thesis rather than chasing near-term momentum.

That divergence — rising large-holder balances and steady ETF inflows alongside weak price action — hints at quiet accumulation rather than speculative froth. Historically, similar setups in XRP have preceded periods of consolidation before sharper moves, though timing has varied widely.

For now, XRP appears caught between longer-term positioning and short-term risk aversion. Without a broader pickup in crypto market momentum, particularly in bitcoin and ether, the token may struggle to convert improving fundamentals into sustained upside.