Whales Pour XRP & ETH into CEXs, Triggering Altcoin Sell-off

• Global crypto market cap witnessed a 3.5% drop in the last 24 hours.
• Hefty XRP and ETH whale transfers to popular exchanges raise concerns.
• Large market cap altcoins retreat 5% while Bitcoin (BTC) retests $40K.

The cryptosphere’s fifth largest currency, XRP (XRP), is back in the spotlight this Monday afternoon, as one large whale transferred a whopping 28.6 billion XRP coins to Bitstamp, a popular centralized crypto exchange (CEX). Valued at $14,757,546 at stamped transaction time, this transfer raised many eyebrows among crypto traders on X.

The whale’s move adds 28.6B XRP tokens into circulation, regarded by many as an intention to sell. Twenty-one hours ago, XRP’s market price lingered around $0.55 but dropped to $0.5267 amid an ongoing crypto market meltdown, already demanding 3.5% of the global crypto market cap on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Whales Splash $32M ETH on Coinbase

Eleven hours later, the cryptocurrency whale-watching agency WhaleAlert spotted an even larger transaction of 13,198 Ether (ETH) to Coinbase. The most popular American crypto exchange received a hefty influx of $32,006,255. ETH was priced at $2,4262 at the time but later plummeted to $2,369.

Ether and XRP slumped in value by 4.20% in the last 24 hours. While ETH is still slightly up monthly, XRP has been trading in a downward parallel channel for the last 30 days, summing up the monthly deficit to 14.7%. In contrast to Ether, XRP’s price action also depends on the developments in the highly-publicized legal suit between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On the Flipside

• XRP’s parent company, Ripple, recently acquired a stake in the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.
• As a result, many traders on X speculate that the transfer could come from an unlabelled Ripple wallet.

Why This Matters

The cryptosphere can be influenced by various factors, especially by huge whale transactions and legal developments.

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