$XRP whales suddenly accumulated 190 million tokens within a single day amid the renewed bearish pressure that has kept $XRP below $1.
The move comes as bears continue to gain ground around key price levels. Notably, sellers took control of $3 in October 2025, $2 in January 2026, and $1.50 in May 2026. Now, they appear to be trying to keep $XRP below the important $1 level.
The selling pressure recently grew stronger after $XRP recorded its first weekly close below $1 since reclaiming the level in November 2024.
$XRP remains below $1 and currently trades around $0.99. However, the latest whale activity suggests that some large holders are using the latest decline to add more $XRP to their holdings.
$XRP Whales Add 190M Tokens in One Day
Data from Santiment, a market intelligence platform, shows that $XRP whales holding between 1 million and 10 million $XRP increased their combined balance from 3.84 billion $XRP on Aug. 16 to 4.03 billion $XRP on Aug. 17. This indicates that the group added roughly 190 million $XRP in just one day.
The timing of the accumulation is also worth noting, considering $XRP’s recent price action. For context, $XRP dropped from $1.001 to $0.9925 on Aug. 17, suggesting that these whales may have bought during the move below $1.
Following the accumulation spree, the $XRP price recovered above the key level, rising nearly 1% to $1.002 on August 17. However, the recovery failed to hold, and prices have since fallen below $1 again. At the time of writing, $XRP trades around $0.99268.
Other Large $XRP Holders Are Buying Too
The sharp increase among wallets holding 1 million to 10 million $XRP stands out, but other large holders have also been building their positions in recent weeks.
Specifically, wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million $XRP increased their combined balance from 11.62 billion $XRP in mid-June to 12.22 billion $XRP currently. This represents an increase of about 600 million $XRP over the past five weeks.
At the same time, wallets holding between 100,000 and 1 million $XRP have also been adding $XRP since early June, although their accumulation has come at a slower pace. On June 5, this smaller group held 6.31 billion $XRP. Its combined balance has now risen to 6.38 billion $XRP
Number of $XRP Whales Hit a Yearly High
The latest data also shows a sharp rise in the number of wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million $XRP. Their number increased from 1,524 wallets on August 16 to 1,612 on Aug. 17, adding 88 new wallets within 24 hours. Meanwhile, those holding 100,000 to 1 million $XRP have continued to see a gradual increase since mid-June.
The increase pushed this group to a new yearly high in terms of wallet count. Before this jump, the number of wallets in the category had remained below 1,600 since a sharp decline in December 2025.
Higher $XRP balances and a growing number of wallets in this range could be an important development for $XRP. It does not guarantee that the token will immediately recover, especially while sellers continue to defend the area below $1.
However, continued whale accumulation could help provide support if selling pressure starts to ease. The major question now is whether these large holders will continue buying if $XRP remains below $1 or if further weakness could change their approach.