Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
XRP sends mixed signals for the beginning of 2026. Reserves on South Korea’s Abit and Bithumb exchanges fell sharply, reversing a pattern that preceded the 560% increase of XRP at the end of 2024. However, on January 7, the XRP spot funds of the United States recorded their first flow of 80 million dollars in November. single day
The discrepancy between the activity of Korean exchanges and the decrease in institutional demand complicates the expectations for the next step for XRP.
Sponsored
Sponsored
The flows of the Korean stock market reversed the previous rally pattern
XRP balances on major South Korean exchanges dropped significantly during the first week of 2026. Show Manual analysis For portfolios containing more than 1 million
This style attracts attention because of its history. When XRP started to leave Abit in November 2024, the price increased from $0.50 to $3 in the following months. South Korean exchanges remain some of the largest trading centers for XRP, which means that reserve changes could impact global price discovery.
Exchange flows may indicate that investors are moving their assets into long-term private storage instead of immediate sale. appears Searches from major exchanges Large outflows often reflect accumulation by long-term holders. This often results in shortages on trading platforms, reducing short-term selling pressure.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Heavy activity on the chain spiked in early January. registration XRP Ledger 2,170 whale transactions – Transfers of $100,000 or more – January 5th. The next day, that number jumped to 2,802, the highest in three months.
An increase of 29% in one day indicates an active position by large scalpers, and is often an indicator of increased volatility.
XRP funds record first flow since launch
US XRP spot funds broke the streak of inflows on January 7, registering net inflows of $40.8 million – the first since the products are launched in mid-November 2025. The 21Shares XRP ETF (TOXR) led withdrawals to $47.25 million, while Grayscale’s GXRP was the only inflow of $169 million.
Sponsored
Sponsored
This influx comes after weeks of sustained institutional buying. Cumulative net flows remained at $1.2 billion, with total assets under management at $1.53 billion. But that decline raises questions about whether institutional appetite is starting to wane at a time when individual Korean investors appear to be moving assets away from exchanges.
Not all flows lead to demonstrations
CryptoQuant data for Binance is shown Reserves reached similar lows in mid-2024, but prices were capped at around $0.50 per month. The increase that began in November 2024 came only after reserves returned above previous levels – and not at a time of tight supply.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Some analysts also point out that popular exchange data may reduce the total available supply. The most extensive monitoring on 30 platforms shows that there are about 14 billion XRP on exchanges, which is much higher than the numbers from sources that monitor a smaller number of platforms.
Future outlook
XRP traded near $2.30 in early January 2026, lagging from its July 2025 peak of $3.65. The token rose from $0.50 to more than $3 between November 2024 and January 2025, then spent most of 2025 in consolidation.
The current setup provides mixed signals. The outflows from Korean exchanges and the increase in whale activity reflect patterns as you saw before the XRP rally at the end of 2024. But the first flow of the ETF and the historical precedent suggest that these indicators alone do not guarantee a rally. Whether retail activity in Korea will be able to offset declining institutional flows remains the key question as the end of January approaches.
