Whales Quietly Stock Up on $BTC, $ETH, $XRP While the Charts Yawn 🐋

Large holders of Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP are adding to their positions while prices sit near or below their average purchase cost, according to research from CryptoQuant. Julio Moreno, the company's head of research, said in a weekly report that these largest cohorts are absorbing supply, adding: "This positioning lowers downside pressure and is consistent with the final phase of the cycle's decline." On-chain data from the firm shows XRP spot order sizes remaining in "big whale" territory as the token holds the $1.00–$1.20 band, with a market capitalization near $66 billion. CryptoQuant noted that the 90-day taker cumulative volume delta, a measure of aggressive buying versus selling, has drifted to neutral, with roughly balanced buy and sell flow characterizing a calm accumulation phase.

XRP was changing hands at $1.05 on Binance at press time, down 1.4% over 24 hours, following an earlier Decrypt read near $1.10. The daily chart shows a basing pattern rather than a breakdown: the 50-day exponential moving average sits below the 200-day, forming a death cross, with price trading under both averages in the $1.30–$1.60 zone. The relative strength index is 39.5, below the 50 midpoint and approaching the 30 oversold threshold without crossing it, while the average directional index reads 10.4, indicating no dominant trend. Squeeze momentum is off with a negative reading, signaling compressed volatility.

Analysts have similarly debated whether Bitcoin's bear market, which has been unusually shallow, has bottomed. CryptoQuant's argument applied to XRP points to large, low-key buy orders paired with balanced buying and selling pressure, suggesting investors are holding steady rather than capitulating but have not yet pushed prices higher. A daily close back above the 200-day EMA, around $1.12, would mark the first confirmation that the accumulation is translating into upside, while immediate support sits at the $1.04 area; a clean break opens $0.9167, then $0.8358.