XRP reached its highest active address count in more than two months this week, with 49,929 daily active addresses on the XRPL, yet the token remains pinned near $1, down 35% from its May peak of $1.54.
The divergence between on-chain metrics and price action has widened considerably. XRPL active addresses are now 3% above May’s previous peak of 48,453, according to data tracked by Santiment. Whale selling pressure to Binance has collapsed to a $61 million three-month average, the lowest level since 2021, down from $456 million in January 2025 and $355 million in October 2025. Derivatives positioning has grown, with Bybit recording a 54 million XRP open interest increase on August 12 and Binance adding 29.5 million XRP over the latest 30-day period for a combined 83.5 million XRP increase across both exchanges.
Yet ETF inflows have deteriorated sharply. The XRP ETF issued by 21Shares drew $131.94 million in May, fell to $59.46 million in June, dropped to $27.29 million in July, and attracted only $3.27 million through the first half of August. As of August 13, the fund held $942 million in net assets, with cumulative demand since launch reaching $1.51 billion.
Crowd sentiment has turned sharply negative. Sentiment tracking by Santiment across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other channels shows XRP commentary at its most bearish level in three months. XRP fell to $0.98 this week before recovering toward $1.
Network Activity Masks Liquidity Shifts
Stablecoin activity on XRPL presents a mixed picture. Stablecoin holders increased 37% over the past month to 82,100, and transfer volume rose 8.4% to $4.61 billion. However, stablecoin market capitalization on XRPL fell 6.8% to $906.8 million, indicating concentration among fewer holders or reduced on-chain stablecoin supply.
Real-world asset (RWA) holders on XRPL increased 29% to 217, but 30-day RWA transfer volume declined 27% to $242.35 million. Network development efforts have centered on deeper liquidity, decentralized trading, consumer applications, stablecoins, and tokenized assets, according to available data.
The combination of record active addresses, reduced whale inflows to Binance, and growing derivatives leverage typically signals bullish structural positioning. Instead, XRP has remained range-bound, with sentiment among retail and social media participants reaching three-month lows despite the on-chain indicators that would historically precede a rally.
