XRP Whales Feast on Discount While Institutions Sit Out Ahead of CLARITY Act Hearing

XRP network hits 8M accounts and whales accumulate 70M tokens, but ETF trading halts and price drops 70% from ATH. Technical signals hint at reversal amid regulatory focus.

The XRP ecosystem is pulling in two directions at once. On the blockchain, the network just crossed 8 million activated accounts, and large wallets scooped up roughly 70 million tokens in the past week alone. Meanwhile, exchange reserves at Binance have slipped to 2.61 billion XRP — the lowest level since February 2026, a sign that holders are moving coins into cold storage. But on the institutional side, trading in XRP exchange-traded funds has ground to a halt, with zero activity recorded on three consecutive days and on six separate occasions this month.

The token itself is struggling to break free of a prolonged slide. At $1.09, XRP trades 4.72 percent below its 50-day moving average of $1.14 and has shed roughly 10.7 percent over the past 30 days. From the all-time high of $3.65 reached in July 2025, the cryptocurrency has given back more than 70 percent of its value. The relative strength index sits at 45.5, a neutral reading that offers little directional conviction, while annualized volatility has settled at around 32.5 percent.

A handful of technical signals are now flashing cautiously optimistic. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez notes that the monthly TD Sequential indicator triggered a buy signal at $1.109, suggesting the selling pressure that has dominated recent weeks is losing steam. On the weekly chart, an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern has formed with a neckline at $1.12; a clean break above that level would imply a target near $1.30. Zooming out, the weekly RSI dipped to 29.6 in June 2026 — only the second time on record that the oscillator has fallen below 30. The first instance, in June 2022, preceded an eventual rally of roughly 1,100 percent from $0.29 to the 2025 peak. History, of course, never repeats neatly, and the data on average holder profits paints a grim picture: traders sitting on 30-day losses averaging 45 percent and one-year losses of 47 percent.

Institutional demand has all but evaporated. Weekly net flows into XRP spot ETFs have collapsed from $131.94 million in May to $59 million in June and then to near zero in July. Cumulative inflows since the products launched stand at $1.48 billion, but the recent stagnation is stark. Across the seven active XRP ETFs in the United States — all still operating as of July 16 — total assets under management amount to roughly $1 billion, locked in 964.7 million tokens. New wallet creation on the XRP Ledger has also cooled: only 2,130 addresses were opened on July 11, the lowest single-day tally since November 2024.

The regulatory calendar is now the primary focus for many market participants. On July 17, a House subcommittee on digital assets is scheduled to hold a hearing titled "Building the Future of Finance: How the CLARITY Act Unlocks Innovation," with witnesses from WisdomTree, Nova Labs, Coin Center, and Bullish. The bill passed the House in 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May by a 15-9 vote. A Senate floor vote before the August 7 summer recess is the target; if that window closes, the legislation could slip to 2027. Polymarket puts the probability of a 2026 passage at 36 percent. The political maneuvering intensified on July 16 when President Trump met with Republican senators to hash out disputed ethics rules that would restrict crypto holdings by officials. Senators Lummis and Tillis are working on a compromise language, with Tillis aiming for a deal by the weekend. Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty warned that rejection of the act would leave regulatory gaps similar to those exploited during the FTX collapse, while Coinbase policy chief Faryar Shirzad called the bill a "dramatic step forward" for consumer protection and market integrity. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse struck a more neutral tone, stressing that White House support matters most and adding that many dollar-pegged stablecoins are "useless" unless properly regulated.

A separate short-term catalyst has emerged from Binance, which launched an $800,000 rewards program for holders of RLUSD, the Ripple-affiliated stablecoin, running from July 17 through August 14. That campaign could stimulate additional trading activity in the XRP ecosystem. For now, the market is left weighing two competing narratives: a blockchain that is quietly accumulating real usage and user commitment, and an institutional front that has gone conspicuously quiet. The weeks until the Senate recess will likely determine which story gains the upper hand.