XRP price likely to reverse as 250 million tokens hit exchange wallets

XRP price chart is uneventful, mainly due to the indecisiveness in the SEC v. Ripple case. The overall altcoin market saw an extended rally, but traders have a bearish outlook on the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization due to the stalled uptrend.

250 million XRP transferred to Bitstamp

Based on Whale Alert, 250 million XRP was transferred from an unknown wallet to Bitstamp on August 3, 2021, at 15:28 UTC. The transfer has sent warinign signals across the board since it could lead to a spike in selling pressure. Traders remain cautious given the increasing number of tokens now sitting on exchanges.

Interestingly, Ripple Labs transferred 182.3 million XRP from its escrow account to former CTO Jed McCaleb’s wallet in a planned settlement. Though this is part of a routine for the distributed ledger firm, a total of 500 million XRP was unlocked from escrow, and it has raised flags in the crypto community. 

Previously, significant unlocks were followed by a high inflow of tokens to crypto exchanges and a subsequent drop in XRP price. Given McCaleb history of selling XRP at big quatitiies, traders are concerned over a drop in the altcoin’s price. 

XRP price noted a sudden uptrend following the SEC v. Ripple proceedings; however, the excitement was short-lived, and the price is rangebound yet again. 

The altcoin’s price recently came close to retesting a high of $0.785, but it is now undergoing a correction. The downtrend is expected to prolonged since the unlocking of 500 million XRP may drive higher inflow to crypto exchanges and create further selling pressure.