XRP is caught in a tug-of-war between accelerating institutional infrastructure and a near-total paralysis among its largest holders. The token changed hands at roughly $1.08 on Wednesday, barely budging from a range that has held for weeks, even as two major regional milestones—Hong Kong retail access and South Korean exchange listings for Ripple’s stablecoin—provided fresh catalysts.
OSL Opens the Door in Hong Kong
On July 29, OSL Digital Securities, a subsidiary of the OSL Group, became the first platform licensed by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission to offer direct spot trading of XRP to retail investors. The exchange launched an XRP/USD pair via its Flash Trade service, with over-the-counter settlement now available in both U.S. dollars and Hong Kong dollars. The news sent XRP up roughly 4% in a single session to around $1.09, though the gain has since been partially eroded.
Market participants view the move as a significant step toward a regulated fiat-to-crypto on-ramp in Asia, a region where XRP has long enjoyed strong retail interest but limited compliant access.
RLUSD Gains a Foothold in Seoul
Simultaneously, Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD secured listings at South Korea’s two largest exchanges. Upbit confirmed support on July 28, enabling deposits and withdrawals on the XRP Ledger alongside trading pairs against the Korean won, bitcoin and USDT. Bithumb followed a day later with a won-denominated pair.
The circulating supply of RLUSD on the XRP Ledger now stands at approximately $873 million, comfortably outstripping the $712 million parked on Ethereum. Demand has been robust enough that Ripple minted 15 million new RLUSD tokens on July 30 alone to meet regional appetite.
Whales Go Quiet Even as Smaller Accumulators Step In
Yet for all the positive infrastructure news, on-chain data tells a more cautious story. Blockchain analyst PelinayPA of CryptoQuant reports that whale activity on Binance has fallen sharply. Inflows and outflows across nearly all size brackets have declined, with transfers of 100,000 to 1 million XRP and those exceeding 1 million XRP both dropping well below levels seen in 2024 and early 2025.
The analyst cautions against reading the drop in exchange outflows as a bullish accumulation signal. In prior cycles, large outflows often indicated long-term buying by sophisticated investors. But with overall transaction volumes so thin, the pattern now reflects passivity rather than conviction. PelinayPA describes the current environment as a “waiting phase”—neither aggressive accumulation nor heavy selling is visible.
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This liquidity vacuum is making it harder for XRP to establish a clear trend. Smaller addresses holding between 1,000 and 10,000 XRP now account for the bulk of network activity, leaving price action in the hands of retail traders rather than institutional players.
A Contradiction in the Data
Santiment’s figures offer a slightly different lens. According to the analytics firm, wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 XRP now control 11.9% of the total supply, up from 11.75% in just 24 hours. The cohort holding 100,000 to 1 million XRP has also increased its share, now commanding 11.75% of tokens. This accumulation has coincided with a cooling in retail activity, suggesting that professional and high-net-worth participants are quietly absorbing available exchange liquidity.
The divergence between the two data sources—CryptoQuant showing whale dormancy on Binance, Santiment showing mid-tier accumulation—may reflect a shift in where and how larger investors are operating. Rather than moving tokens through centralized exchange wallets, some may be building positions via over-the-counter desks or decentralized venues.
Technical Picture Remains Fraught
Chart-wise, XRP is trading just above its 52-week low of $1.01, set on June 26, and below its 50-day moving average of $1.11—a classic sign of absent upward momentum. Resistance near $1.10 has held for weeks, and the CLARITY Act, once seen as a potential catalyst, was shelved by the U.S. Senate on July 27 to make room for other legislative priorities.
Support sits in the $1.02–$1.04 zone. A break below that level would open the door to a test of the psychologically important $1.00 mark. The broader crypto market remains cautious ahead of central bank interest-rate decisions, but the regional tailwinds from Hong Kong and South Korea have given XRP a relative edge over other top-ten digital assets in recent sessions.
For now, XRP’s near-term direction hinges less on whale movements and more on whether retail momentum—bolstered by new regulated access points—can fill the void left by sidelined institutional capital.
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