Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen is back in the news after selling another large portion of his considerable XRP holdings. According to recent estimates, the former CEO of Ripple has netted a massive $760 million from his XRP sales since 2018 alone, and has a habit of selling at relatively peak prices. The continued dumping of XRP tokens in the market has raised fears that it will negatively affect the cryptocurrency’s standing.
XRP is currently trading at $2.47, down 35% from its All-time High (ATH) of around $3.66 set hardly a year ago. The sudden downturn in the 5th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is partly due to the overall bearish conditions in the altcoin market and Larsen’s selling spree.
Larsen’s XRP Selling Spree
Larsen sold around 50 million XRP ($124.5 million) to Evernorth Holdings earlier this week. The move follows several major sales in the last few years, including one in 2021 in which he sold 500 million XRP at around $1.96 and 200 million XRP at around $3.84, roughly worth $500 million. He still holds a massive 2.5 billion XRP ($6 billion) stash and could theoretically offload it at will in the coming months. It represents a whopping 8% of the entire supply of the digital currency.
While some in the crypto community commend Larsen for cashing out at opportune moments throughout history, many analysts and commentators express considerable mistrust of his large-scale sales. A former CEO dumping a company’s stock in large numbers is never viewed positively by the market in any setup, and XRP should be no different.
Analyst Criticizes Larsen’s XRP Sales
According to one experienced analyst named Maartun, the former top Ripple guy is cashing out on his XRP gains while the rest of the investors are still holding out. He tweeted:
“NOW: Chris Larsen (Ripple co-founder) just offloaded 50M $XRP (worth ~$120M) in the past hour.
Still buying the hype?
He’s cashing out.
You’re holding the bag.”
Maartun works for CryptoQuant, one of the most well-known on-chain platforms in the cryptocurrency economy, and has drawn this conclusion using extensive statistics. He also stated that Larsen had a “habit of cashing out near local highs.” He also asked crypto users to zoom out and get the real picture.
The Future
Larson’s involvement with XRP has evolved significantly over the years, from its initial creation to his current role as a major holder and strategic seller. The latter role is highly concerning for digital currency traders, especially those holding XRP, because XRP is the most centralized of the top coins.
The market is already performing below par, and critics fear Larsen’s selling news could spark a further price collapse for XRP if buying pressure doesn’t step up.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/the-big-xrp-dump-co-founder-accused-of-profiteering-from-massive-xrp-sales/
