XRP rebounds to $1 as network activity hits two-month high
In brief
- XRP recovered to $1 after falling to $0.98, erasing May rally gains
- XRP Ledger hit 49,929 active addresses—highest in two months—despite 35% price decline
- Whale inflows to Binance plunged to $61M, lowest since 2021
- XRP sentiment hit most bearish level in three months on social platforms
- XRPL stablecoin holders jumped 37% to 82,100 over the past month
Network Activity Surges While Price Stalls
The contradiction is stark. XRPL activity has returned to its May peak even though XRP is trading roughly 35% below the price reached during that earlier surge. In May, when the token traded above $1.54, the network recorded 48,453 active addresses, about 3% below this week's level.
The rebound masks a fragile pattern. Daily active addresses fell to 25,350 by July 10, the second-lowest reading of 2026, before the recent recovery. That volatility—sharp drops followed by sudden surges—hints at a network struggling to build sustained usage.
Stablecoin Growth Masks Underlying Weakness
Activity metrics tell a mixed story. Stablecoin holders on XRPL climbed 37% over the past month to about 82,100 from roughly 60,000, and stablecoin transfer volume rose 8.4% over the same period to $4.61 billion. Yet market capitalization fell 6.8% to $906.8 million despite those gains in holders and volume.
Real-world assets on the ledger present a different picture. The number of RWA holders increased 29% to 217, but 30-day transfer volume fell almost 27% to $242.35 million. Distributed RWA value declined 1.9% to $485.18 million, and represented asset value slipped 0.3% to about $4.05 billion.
Whale Selling Collapses, Sentiment Remains Bearish
What's shifted dramatically is whale behavior. The three-month average of whale inflows to Binance has fallen to about $61 million, its lowest level since 2021. Compare that to January 2025, when the measure stood near $456 million, or October 2025, when it hit $355 million. Current whale inflows are therefore six to eight times below those earlier levels.
The paradox intensifies when you examine sentiment. Crowd commentary around XRP simultaneously reached its most bearish level in three months across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other crypto channels tracked by Santiment. Large holders aren't selling—yet the crowd is more negative than it's been since spring.
Developer Retention the Missing Piece
Vet, a prominent XRPL validator, offered perspective on the disconnect. "Developers need to keep more of the activity that arrives during stronger crypto-market cycles rather than allowing those bursts to fade," he said. The implication is clear: network development efforts have increasingly centered on deeper liquidity, decentralized trading, consumer applications, stablecoins and tokenized assets, but the execution hasn't locked in users when momentum swings.
Large holders are sending far less XRP to Binance just as derivatives traders rebuild exposure around the token's recent lows. The setup looks bullish on paper. Whether the network can retain the current surge remains the open question.
