XRP whales accumulate heavily as price plunges by 14% within a week

Ripple (XRP) price has been inching closer to what the crypto community is considering a victory in its legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But the slow pace of developments has led XRP price to take after the broader market cues, which appear to be bearish at the moment.

Ripple vs. SEC result delayed

The lawsuit initiated by SEC is expected to come to an end by March next year, but as per forecasts by XRP supporter and lawyer John Deaton, the outcome could be delayed up to April or even May. This is due to the volume of evidence and documents that need to be processed.

On the other hand, the most recent development in the case has been the filing of the pro hac vice motion by Rodrigo Seira. Appearing as pro hac vice, Seria will be appearing as an attorney counsel from another jurisdiction on behalf of Paradigm Operations.

XRP whales accumulating

XRP whales have been making the most of the decline in prices over the last couple of days as bigger wallet cohorts have managed to scoop up a significant amount of the supply. According to Santiment data, the number of addresses holding between 1 million XRP and 10 million XRP has increased by 6.5% in a month from 1,519 to 1,617.

XRP whales’ accumulation

At the same time, the supply held by these whales has also risen significantly. Currently, these 1,617 addresses collectively own about 7.23% of the XRP supply, which is the highest figure noted since the cryptocurrency’s inception. As stated above, if this bullish behavior rubs off on the retail investors as well, a buying spree-induced XRP price recovery could begin.

XRP price takes a dive

The lack of positive momentum and persisting investors’ fears led to the crypto market noting a decline in value. Consequently, the XRP price followed suit.

Trading at $0.34, XRP fell by 14% over the last seven days from the trading price of almost $0.40. XRP price is currently closer to testing its short-term support level at $0.33 after failing to breach $0.34. If the altcoin declines below this level, it could end up tagging $0.32. Any decline from here would result in the cryptocurrency falling to $0.31.

XRP/USD 4-hour chart

However, if the XRP whales’ efforts trigger bullish behavior in the retail investors, the price could begin rising. Flipping $0.34 into a support floor would allow XRP to attempt a breach of the critical resistance at $0.37. A daily candlestick above this level would invalidate the bearish thesis and result in the altcoin reinitiating recovery toward $0.39.