XRP Holds Firm as Ripple Backs SEC Rulemaking and Exchange Inflows Hit Seven-Month High

XRP traded 2.1% higher at 1.33 USD on Thursday, a modest gain that sits awkwardly beside two competing data sets: exchange deposits of the token have climbed to their highest level since March, while Ripple is pressing Washington to replace case-by-case enforcement with written rules.

Ripple Backs SEC Proposal, Drawing a Line Between Token and Contract

Ripple has filed a comment letter endorsing the SEC's proposed framework for crypto assets, with Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty arguing the agency has clear authority to adopt the rules. In Ripple's view, years of ad hoc enforcement have pushed innovation offshore — a case for general rulemaking rather than resolution through individual lawsuits.

At the heart of the filing is a distinction the company has pressed since its own litigation: under the Howey test, it is the investment contract that qualifies as a security, not the token itself. That separation — between what a digital asset is and the terms on which it is sold — underpins Ripple's argument.

The company says it has spent more than USD 150 million pursuing regulatory clarity, a figure that underscores the stakes but proves nothing about the proposal's fate. Ripple's endorsement is not a regulatory decision; the SEC has neither adopted the rules nor committed to Ripple's reasoning.

A Court Win With Boundaries

Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse said a day earlier that XRP holders remain well positioned despite the failure of the CLARITY Act, pointing to Judge Analisa Torres's July 2023 ruling that XRP itself is not a security and that sales on public exchanges were not securities offerings.

That decision, however, turned on how tokens were sold. Ripple's direct institutional placements were deemed unregistered securities sales, so the finding cannot be read as a blanket legal clearance for every transaction.

The legislative route closed on 15 September, when the US Senate rejected a cloture motion on the CLARITY Act by 49 votes to 50. According to Garlinghouse, the SEC and CFTC are now filling the gap through rulemaking and guidance — a path he acknowledged carries risk, since future agency chiefs could take a harder line.

Exchange Inflows Double, but Deposits Aren't Sales

On the supply side, CryptoQuant data show 6.05 billion XRP flowed onto exchanges in the 30 days through Wednesday, the highest since March and double the mid-August pace. Reported exchange reserves, meanwhile, sit near the top of their yearly range. The two metrics track different things: inflows measure transfers to trading venues, reserves measure what is held there.

A deposit is not a sale. Rising balances expand the supply available for trading, but whether that translates into price pressure depends on the demand meeting it — and one demand gauge looks soft. According to Darkfost, the 90-day rolling average of large XRP outflows from Binance, measured in dollars, has fallen to USD 49.7 million, a five-year low.

That reading applies to Binance specifically, not to XRP transfers broadly, and does not in itself represent selling. Set against the heavy inflows, though, it sketches a cautious picture: more tokens are reaching trading venues while large withdrawals from Binance run comparatively thin.

Leverage Unwinds After Liquidations

Speculative positioning has retreated in parallel. Open XRP contract volume on Binance fell 15.8% between 4 and 17 October, following liquidations of long positions. That decline belongs to the derivatives market rather than the spot order book, so the two developments do not combine into a single sell signal.

A Whale Transfer That Proves Little

A large transfer reported today likewise demands careful reading. Whale Alert flagged the movement of 82,314,668 XRP between an unknown wallet and a newly created address — not an identified exchange. The transaction establishes neither a sale nor a change in beneficial ownership; the tokens could simply be sitting at the new address as part of an internal custody reshuffle. Only a later forwarding to a trading venue might hint at distribution.

For holders, the takeaway is the gap between movement and intent. The exchange inflows are a risk flag, not confirmation of a sell-off, and the whale transfer does not sharpen the picture while its destination remains unlinked to any known venue.