XRP on-chain activity surges to a record level

XRP posted a sudden spike in on-chain velocity, rising to a yearly high around December 2. The sharp increase signals a possible increase in on-chain economic activity and transactions for a brief period. 

XRP showed signs of becoming more active in the short term, as network velocity rose to a yearly high. The spike in activity follows a slow period, driven by low sentiment from retail users. 

Ripple’s ledger velocity spiked to a yearly high, driven by whale re-accumulation, as well as the recent launch of a liquid staking platform for XRP tokens. | Source: CryptoQuant.

The surge signified increased usage of XRP coins, changing hands between market participants. Recent interest in XRP increased as Ripple received a payment service license in Singapore, as Cryptopolitan reported earlier. 

The metric may reflect whale activity or shifts between wallets. On-chain movements also correlate with potential liquidity inflows, or preparation for more active trading. The spike in on-chain activity follows a relatively subdued period for XRP, coinciding with a stagnant market price. 

XRP shows signs of whales re-entering the market

XRP has been trading in a tight range, currently recovered to $2.17. The asset easily climbs above $2 following downturns, and once again sparks hopes of a recovery. 

In 2025, XRP was mostly pressured by whale selling, while retail absorbed the supply, awaiting a bigger breakout. However, retail was left with underwater assets, once again waiting for months with sideways trading. 

The recent spike in on-chain activity followed data for new whale buying. The shift suggests whales may be re-accumulating XRP at a lower range, preparing for another breakout. 

XRP exchange reserves also deflated in the past two months, from over 3B tokens on Binance, down to 2.6B. There is not yet a supply crunch, but add to the signs of accumulation. Recently, a wave of new wallets bought 77M XRP on the open market in a single day. On-chain reshuffling of XRP wealth also indicates whales repositioning. 

Based on Messari data, XRP mindshare remains at 1.3%, with significant social media presence for a legacy token. Recently, mindshare increased by 22%, showing the on-chain movement coincided with more hype around the asset. 

XRP open interest increased in the past two days, from lows of $1.23B up to $1.39B, signaling an expectation of a directional move. 

XRP moves after Firelight liquid staking launch

One of the immediate reasons for a shift in XRP activity was the launch of the Firelight liquid staking protocol. The feature opens up XRP liquid staking, creating a new DeFi token based on XRP reserves. 

Firelight uses Flare Network to bridge XRP and create a new form of liquid staking token. Flare Network has surpassed XRPL in terms of DeFi growth, and will now become one of the venues for XRP usage.

The liquid staking upgrade is yet to show sustainable adoption. Simple staking brings passive income, but other DeFi use cases for stXRP are riskier and may involve losing the entire stake to liquidation.

XRP was one of the tokens with multiple early passive holders, who expected the asset would be used for fueling a growing distributed ledger. Native DeFi apps on the XRPL network are growing very slowly compared to other chains, with only $73M in value locked.

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