200,000,000 XRP, worth roughly $445 million, was moved from a Ripple-controlled wallet to an unidentified address on Tuesday, November 18.

The transfer was executed with an XRP market price of about $2.22 at 16:22 UTC, according to the blockchain explorer XRPSCAN, just as the broader market flipped green.

Although Ripple has not disclosed the purpose behind the transfer, analysts view it as part of the company’s ongoing liquidity and infrastructure operations rather than a market threat. 

Moreover, the timing coincided with reports that U.S. banking regulators may allow banks to hold crypto to cover blockchain network fees, which left traders bullish about potential increases in institutional adoption. 

Further optimism came from a proposed policy confirming that transactions on the XRP Ledger would remain tax-free. 

XRP still in the red

Improving trader sentiment and regulatory tailwinds helped XRP surge more than 5% following the move. However, the price has fallen again since, trading at $2.12 a day later at the time of writing, Wednesday, November 19, down 2.68%.

The entire week has been rough for the cryptocurrency, as it has shed almost $19 billion in market value over the past seven days, sliding from $147.08 billion on November 12 to $128.50 billion today. 

As the drop comes amid mild recovery across the broader market, it likely underscores XRP’s fragility. Indeed, while the token briefly benefited from ETF launch hype, the enthusiasm has not translated into sustained buying. 

Furthermore, fresh data shows only 58.5% of the XRP supply is currently in profit, the lowest level in a year. Since lower profitability typically dampens appetite among new buyers and encourages caution from long-term holders, sell-side pressure may intensify if the conditions do not turn positive, potentially leading to a drop as low as $1.73. 

Featured image via Shutterstock