XRP the price fell about 4% this month, starting the new year on a negative note. Still, on-chain data shows a positive trend underneath.
The number of “millionaire” wallets, or those holding at least 1 million XRP, increased for the first time since September 2025, according to data source Santiment.
Their number increased by 42 this month to 2,016, ending four months of decline. XRP is the payments-focused cryptocurrency used by financial technology company Ripple to facilitate cross-border transactions.
“A net of +42 wallets with at least 1 million XRP returned to the ledger, an encouraging sign in the long term,” Santiment said on X.
The good news for XRP bulls does not stop there. US-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to XRP saw a net inflow of $91.72 million this month. These funds raised $666 million and $499 million from investors in November and December respectively, according to data source SoSoValue.
This trend stands in stark contrast to the decline in demand for bitcoin. ETFs, which processed redemptions worth $278 million this month, following outflows of more than $4 billion in the last two months of 2025.
Nonetheless, the price of XRP remains in a broad downtrend, as shown in the chart below. The cryptocurrency last traded at $1.88, down 1.7% over 24 hours.
The token has failed to regain its 50-day moving average this month, with rallies repeatedly fading near the $2 mark. This suggests that large holders may be positioning themselves for a longer-term thesis rather than pursuing short-term momentum.
This divergence – increasing balances of large operators and steady inflows of ETFs alongside weak price action – suggests quiet accumulation rather than speculative froth. Historically, similar setups in XRP have preceded periods of consolidation before sharper moves, although the timing has varied considerably.
For now, XRP appears caught between long-term positioning and short-term risk aversion. Without a broader recovery in crypto market dynamics, particularly in the case of bitcoin and ether, the token may struggle to convert improving fundamentals into sustainable upside.
