XRP Whales Just Added 60 Million Tokens: 2,147 Wallets Now Hold 1M+ XRP — 5 Numbers That Decide $1.40 or $1.25

XRP whales added 60 million tokens in a single week, and 2,147 wallets now hold at least 1 million XRP each — the highest count of million-XRP wallets recorded in all of 2026. At the same time, Binance's XRP scarcity index hit 2.1, its highest reading since 2022. The price, meanwhile, is only up about 3% to $1.31. That gap — between what the biggest holders are doing and what the price is doing — is exactly what this article is about, because it usually closes one way or the other within days.

Bitcoin is back above $80,000, Ethereum jumped 6.4% to $2,421, and the total crypto market cap is $2.79 trillion, according to CoinDesk's November 5 market coverage. But XRP's story today is not the market rebound. It is the accumulation happening underneath a price that has barely moved — and one number that directly contradicts the bullish case.

Below are the five numbers that decide whether XRP breaks $1.40 or slips back to $1.25, a scenario table with exact levels, and a checklist for anyone thinking about buying before Friday's U.S. jobs report. If you are new to the token, start with our complete beginner's guide to how XRP works — the rest of this article assumes you know the basics.

The 5 Numbers That Decide $1.40 or $1.25

Whale watching only works if you track the right numbers. Here are the five that matter this week, and what each one actually says.

Number 1: 60 million XRP added by large holders in one week. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez reported that large XRP holders added roughly 60 million tokens over the preceding week, even as the price slid toward $1.25 during the election-week selloff. Whales buying into weakness is the oldest bullish signal in crypto — but it only matters if the buying continues after the bounce. A one-week add can be dip-buying; a four-week trend is accumulation. Watch whether the number grows again next week.

Number 2: 2,147 wallets holding at least 1 million XRP — the most in 2026. Data from Santiment shows that 2,147 wallets now hold 1 million XRP or more, the highest count recorded this year. This is not one whale moving coins between its own addresses. It is a widening base of large holders, which is a structurally different signal from a single big buyer. When the millionaire-wallet count rises while the price is flat, supply is quietly concentrating in hands that do not sell on a 3% move.

Number 3: 13.24 million XRP left exchanges in a single hour. Martinez also reported that approximately 13.24 million XRP left exchanges around 01:00 UTC on November 5. Coins leaving exchanges are coins that cannot be sold instantly — the standard on-chain read is that holders are moving tokens to cold storage or private wallets, which reduces the immediately available supply. One hour of outflows proves little on its own, but it arrived on the same day as the wallet-count high, which makes it corroboration rather than coincidence.

Number 4: Binance XRP scarcity index at 2.1 — the highest since 2022. CryptoQuant contributor Arab Chain reported that Binance's XRP scarcity index reached approximately 2.1, its highest reading since 2022. The scarcity index measures how much XRP is available on the exchange relative to demand — a higher reading means less readily available supply. A four-year high in this metric is the single most striking number in this story, because it suggests the exchange-side supply cushion is thinner than it has been since the last bull market.

Number 5: $1.34–$1.35 resistance, then $1.40; support at $1.25–$1.30. The technical picture is narrower than the on-chain picture. XRP faces immediate resistance around $1.34–$1.35, followed by $1.40. Support sits at $1.25–$1.30, the zone that held during the election-night dip. The on-chain data says accumulation; the chart says XRP has not yet proven it can clear the first resistance level. Until $1.35 breaks with volume, the whale story is a thesis, not a trend.

What the Whales Actually Did — and What They Didn't

The headline numbers look uniformly bullish, so it is worth being precise about what they actually show. Large holders added 60 million XRP over the preceding week, according to Ali Martinez, and the Santiment wallet data confirms the trend is broad: the count of wallets holding at least 1 million XRP hit 2,147, the highest in 2026. That combination — more tokens per whale and more whales — is the definition of accumulation.

The exchange-outflow data points the same way. Roughly 13.24 million XRP left exchanges around 01:00 UTC on November 5, in the middle of the market-wide rebound that took Bitcoin back above $80,000 and Ethereum to $2,421. When coins leave exchanges during a rally rather than during a panic, the usual interpretation is that holders are positioning for a longer move, not fleeing to safety.

What the whales did not do is move the price. XRP is up only about 2–3% on the day, underperforming Ethereum's 6.4% jump and roughly matching Bitcoin's 4% gain. XRP's 24-hour trading volume is about $2.1 billion on a market cap of roughly $83.6 billion — healthy, but not the volume spike that accompanies a whale-driven breakout. The accumulation is real, but it has not yet translated into price discovery, which is why the resistance levels above matter more than the wallet counts this week.

The Contradiction Nobody Is Talking About

Here is the number that complicates the bullish story: while the scarcity index hit a four-year high, separate exchange data showed Binance's XRP reserves growing by 280 million tokens. Both numbers come from the same week, and on the surface they point in opposite directions.

There are a few ways to read this. The scarcity index and raw reserves measure different things — the index reflects available supply relative to demand and order-book depth, while reserve totals include tokens held in wallets that may not be listed for sale. The honest answer is that the two metrics disagree, and when on-chain metrics disagree, the price is the tiebreaker.

There is a second contradiction worth noting. XRP ETFs recorded zero net inflows on November 4 — the second silent day of the month — even as Bitcoin ETFs took in $74.57 million and Ethereum ETFs $53.02 million, their first inflows of November. XRP ETF cumulative net inflow stands at $1.81 billion with net assets of $1.49 billion, so the products exist and hold real money. But the new money is not arriving right now, and institutional flows were the main engine of the last leg up for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Whale accumulation can push XRP higher on its own, but without ETF flows it is pushing with one engine instead of two.

Bull, Base, Bear: 3 Scenarios for XRP This Week

Predictions are only useful if they come with levels and triggers. Here is how the week breaks down, based on the numbers above.

Scenario	Trigger	Price target	Probability read
Bull: breakout	XRP closes a daily candle above $1.35 on rising volume, with another day of exchange outflows	$1.40, then $1.48	The whale data supports it, but the ETF silence argues against it happening this week
Base: grind higher	XRP holds $1.30, retests $1.34–$1.35 and fails once, then tries again after Friday's jobs report	$1.34–$1.38 range	The most likely path — accumulation without a catalyst usually grinds, not gaps
Bear: rejection	XRP loses $1.30 on heavy volume, or Friday's jobs report is hot and the Fed's December hike odds jump further	$1.25, then $1.20	Becomes the base case if the 280-million-token reserve build turns into selling

Two external events decide which scenario wins. The first is the U.S. jobs report on Friday, November 6, at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect roughly 62,000 new jobs, with the unemployment rate near 4.2%. A much hotter number would reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve raises rates in December — the CME FedWatch tool already puts that probability at 81% — and a stronger dollar typically pressures crypto. A softer number could do the opposite. The second is Friday's $2.65 billion Bitcoin options expiry, which we covered in detail — large expiries often pin Bitcoin near the max-pain level into Friday, and XRP rarely escapes Bitcoin's gravity on expiry days. If you want the full picture on that expiry, read our Bitcoin $2.65B options expiry breakdown.

What Most People Get Wrong About XRP Whale Watching

Whale buying does not mean the price goes up tomorrow. Large holders accumulate over weeks and months, and they are often early by design — they buy the fear, not the breakout. The 60-million-token add happened while XRP was sliding toward $1.25. If you bought on the whale headline alone and expected an instant 10% move, you bought the wrong signal. Whale data tells you where the smart money thinks value is, not when the market will agree.

Exchange outflows are not always bullish. Coins leave exchanges for many reasons: cold storage, over-the-counter deals, exchange wallet maintenance, or preparation for staking and DeFi use. A single hour of 13.24 million XRP in outflows is a data point, not a verdict. Sustained outflows over days, combined with a rising millionaire-wallet count, is the pattern that has historically preceded real moves.

Wallet counts can be gamed by splitting. One holder can split 5 million XRP across five wallets and create five new million-XRP wallets without adding a single token. Santiment's count is a useful gauge, but it should be read together with the total tokens held by large wallets — which, in this case, also rose by 60 million, so the signal survives the check.

The XRP Ledger fix is not a price catalyst by itself. The XRP Ledger is rolling out a security fix for PaymentBurn, a permission meant only to destroy tokens, backed strongly by validators and expected around November 4. A security fix is good for the network's health and says nothing about the price this week.

XRP does not trade in a vacuum. Bitcoin dominance is around 58%, and XRP's correlation with Bitcoin remains high. The midterm rally lifted everything — Bitcoin 4%, Ethereum 6.4%, Solana about 4%, BNB about 3% — and XRP's 2–3% gain is actually the laggard's move in that group. The whale story is XRP-specific, but the price action this week will still be at least half Bitcoin's story. For the comparison, see our XRP vs Solana breakdown, where XRP and SOL are judged on the same seven numbers.

The ETF Silence Problem

XRP's ETF story deserves its own section, because it is the one clear negative in an otherwise constructive week. XRP ETFs recorded zero net inflows on November 4, the second silent day in November, while Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs both posted their first inflows of the month. Cumulative XRP ETF net inflow is $1.81 billion, with $1.49 billion in net assets — about 1.80% of XRP's market value — so the products are established. But flows, not assets, drive short-term price, and right now the flows are zero.

Contrast that with Bitcoin: Fidelity's FBTC took in $236.7 million in a single day while BlackRock's IBIT lost $201.2 million, a split that tells its own story about institutional disagreement. Ethereum ETFs added $53.02 million. The institutional money is moving — it is just not moving into XRP this week. Whale accumulation plus ETF silence is a combination that has historically produced slow grinds higher rather than explosive breakouts, because the two biggest buyer groups are not buying at the same time.

One more piece of context: Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin recently hit Coinbase with a $2.6 billion market cap and a federal bank charter, which we covered in our RLUSD guide for XRP holders. RLUSD growth is a long-term positive for the XRP Ledger ecosystem, but it does not create direct buying pressure on XRP itself.

Checklist: 5 Things to Watch Before Buying XRP This Week

If you are considering a position, do not buy the headline. Check these five things first — they are the difference between trading the whale story and trading the rumor of it.

• Daily close above $1.35 with volume above the recent average — this is the confirmation that the scarcity-index reading is winning over the reserve-build reading. Without it, you are buying a thesis, not a breakout.
• Friday's jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET and the market's reaction — a print far above the roughly 62,000 consensus strengthens the case for a December Fed hike and usually hits crypto within minutes. Know the number before you size the trade.
• Whether the millionaire-wallet count keeps rising next week — one week of 60 million tokens added is a start; two consecutive weeks is a trend. If the count stalls at 2,147, the accumulation story weakens fast.
• XRP ETF flows turning positive again — zero-flow days are fine for a day or two, but a full week of silence while Bitcoin ETFs take in tens of millions would tell you institutions are not following the whales yet.
• Bitcoin holding $80,000 into Friday's options expiry — XRP has not decoupled from Bitcoin in this cycle. If Bitcoin loses $80,000 and retests $78,000, XRP's $1.25 support gets tested too, no matter what the whales are doing.

And if you do decide to buy, do it properly. Our complete guide to buying XRP safely walks through exchange selection, fees, and self-custody — and our honest should-I-buy-XRP guide covers the case against buying, including the regulatory and concentration risks that whale headlines never mention.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is XRP price up today?

XRP is up about 2–3% to around $1.31 on November 5 as part of a market-wide rebound after the U.S. midterm elections, with Bitcoin reclaiming $80,000 and Ethereum jumping 6.4%. XRP-specific drivers include whale accumulation — 60 million tokens added in a week — and 13.24 million XRP leaving exchanges. The Fear and Greed Index also recovered from 34 to 50, signalling a shift from fear to neutral sentiment.

How many XRP whales are there now?

According to Santiment, 2,147 wallets now hold at least 1 million XRP each — the highest count recorded in 2026. Large holders added roughly 60 million XRP over the preceding week, according to analyst Ali Martinez. The combination of more whales and more tokens per whale is the strongest accumulation signal XRP has printed this year.

What is the Binance XRP scarcity index?

The Binance XRP scarcity index measures how much XRP is readily available on the exchange relative to demand. CryptoQuant contributor Arab Chain reported it reached approximately 2.1, its highest reading since 2022. A higher reading implies thinner available supply. Note that Binance's total XRP reserves reportedly grew by 280 million tokens in the same period, so the scarcity reading should be treated as one signal among several, not as proof of a supply squeeze.

Will XRP reach $1.40?

XRP can reach $1.40, but it first has to clear resistance at $1.34–$1.35 with strong volume. The whale accumulation data supports a move higher, while zero XRP ETF inflows and the upcoming U.S. jobs report on Friday, November 6, argue for caution. Our base scenario is a grind toward $1.34–$1.38 rather than a straight run to $1.40. Any prediction is a scenario, not a guarantee — the levels and triggers in the table above are what to watch.

Is XRP a good investment in November 2026?

That depends on your time horizon and risk tolerance, not on a single week of whale data. The accumulation numbers are genuinely constructive, the ETF products give institutions a regulated route in, and the XRP Ledger ecosystem is growing. Against that: XRP has underperformed Ethereum and Solana in this rebound, ETF flows are currently zero, and a hot jobs report or a Bitcoin drop below $80,000 would likely drag XRP back to $1.25. Read our honest XRP investment guide before deciding, and never invest money you cannot afford to lose.

What happens to XRP after the jobs report?

The October employment report lands Friday, November 6, at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists expecting roughly 62,000 new jobs and unemployment near 4.2%. A much stronger number would reinforce the 81% market-implied probability of a December Fed rate hike, which typically pressures crypto. A weaker number could fuel hopes for easier policy and support risk assets. XRP's reaction will also depend on whether it is holding above $1.30 into the release and on how Bitcoin trades through Friday's $2.65 billion options expiry.

Conclusion: The Whales Are Early — the Market Has Not Decided Yet

The most important number in this story is not 60 million, 2,147, or 2.1. It is $1.35 — the resistance level XRP has not yet cleared. The whales have placed their bet: 60 million tokens added, the most million-XRP wallets of 2026, coins leaving exchanges, and the scarcest Binance supply since 2022. But the market has not yet validated the bet, the ETFs are silent, and Friday brings both a jobs report and a $2.65 billion Bitcoin options expiry that can override every on-chain signal in an hour.

If XRP closes a day above $1.35 on real volume, the whale thesis becomes a trend, and $1.40 is the next stop. If it rejects $1.35 and loses $1.30, the 280-million-token reserve build was the warning, and $1.25 is back in play. Either way, the next 48 hours will tell you more than the last seven days did. Watch the levels, watch the jobs report, and let the price confirm what the wallets are saying.

Sources: CoinDesk; crypto.news XRP price analysis; CoinGabbar ETF flows; CoinStats market update; BYDFi jobs report preview; Santiment and CryptoQuant data via crypto.news; SoSoValue ETF data; CME FedWatch Tool.