XRP remains one of the success stories of the current cryptocurrency market rally, having broken out of a prolonged consolidation zone that had cast doubt on the asset’s sustainability.
The XRP price resurgence has gained traction as the asset maintains a diverse distribution of tokens across institutional custodians, exchanges, and individual accounts.
As of press time, XRP was valued at $2.52, rallying by over 5% in the last 24 hours. On the weekly chart, the Ripple-affiliated digital asset has gained over 33%.
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Looking at the asset’s distribution, out of the maximum supply of 100 billion XRP, approximately 57 billion XRP is in circulation.
Ripple’s escrow accounts hold a substantial 38.04 billion XRP, gradually released to ensure liquidity control and supply management. Notably, 13.18 million XRP has been permanently burned, reducing the total available supply to 99.99 billion XRP.
XRP’s top holders
For specific holders, as of December 2024, Ripple remains the largest custodian of XRP, holding a significant share of the cryptocurrency’s supply.
According to data retrieved by Finbold on December 7 from XRP Scan, among the top ten holders, Ripple’s escrow accounts collectively hold 5 billion XRP, distributed across accounts labeled Ripple (11), Ripple (10), and Ripple (28).
Additionally, exchanges Uphold and Binance rank ninth and tenth, respectively. Uphold holds approximately 1.84 billion XRP, while Binance follows closely with 1.83 billion XRP. Other notable entities include Bithumb (1.39 billion XRP), UPbit (1.22 billion XRP), and Coincheck (623.4 million XRP).
Despite XRP’s distribution across a diverse pool of holders, its concentration in a few key entities, particularly Ripple, raises concerns about control and decentralization.
Such concerns have previously led to inquiries into XRP’s authenticity, with financial educator and analyst Rajat Soni labeling the asset a ‘scam’ due to alleged centralization, which could enable price manipulation.
However, it’s worth noting that despite a few entities holding a significant portion of XRP, Ripple does not control the XRP Ledger. Changes to the ledger require validator consensus rather than unilateral decisions. The total XRP supply, capped at 100 billion since its pre-mining phase, remains unchanged.
What’s Next for XRP?
XRP is riding strong bullish momentum, supported by a favorable technical setup. According to a cryptocurrency analyst with the pseudonym Cryptoinsightuk in an X post on December 7, the asset could soar to an ambitious $5.26 by December 11.
The analyst highlighted that XRP faced resistance at the 0.5–0.618 Fibonacci retracement levels during its previous range-bound phase, often key zones for price reversals. Once it broke through, XRP surged to the 4.236 Fibonacci extension in just three days.
Now, in a similar position, XRP is testing the same retracement levels. If history repeats itself, a breakthrough could trigger another rapid rally to the $5.26 target.
While this projection may seem optimistic, XRP’s explosive rally of almost 340% over the past month suggests it’s not entirely out of reach. However, the possibility of XRP entering overbought territory, signaling a potential pullback, remains a key area to monitor in the short term.
At the same time, XRP is backed by strong fundamentals, including ongoing post-election momentum and the nomination of a pro-crypto official to replace the outgoing Gary Gensler as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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