cointelegraph

XRP Holders Should ‘Protect Themselves’ Amid Chris Larsen-Linked Sales

Key points:

  • Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen sparks warnings to XRP investors after a wallet linked to him sends 50 million tokens to exchanges.

  • Larsen notionally has over 2.5 billion XRP left, which would create massive selling pressure if distributed.

  • XRP/USD currently trades 13% below recent all-time highs, failing to recover after the sell-off.

XRP (XRP) investors face new warnings over becoming “exit liquidity” after Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen moved 50 million tokens to exchanges.

In a response on X, J. A. Maartunn, a contributor to onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, told XRP holders not to “get dumped on.”

Chris Larsen XRP transactions: “What’s next?”

XRP hit near all-time highs above $3.60 on July 17, but the achievement was quickly overshadowed by large outflows from a wallet linked to Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.

As Cointelegraph reported, reactions on social media were mixed, with some seeing a reasonable profit-taking move and others accusing Larsen of deliberate offloading at the highs.

Continuing the topic, Maartunn warned that the wallet’s giant XRP stash meant that the recent 50 million XRP outflows were merely a drop in the ocean.

Larsen, he suggested, could increase sell-side pressure by a huge factor should he choose to pull more of its balance.

“Chris Larsen (Ripple co-founder) still holds 2.58B $XRP — that’s $8.83B,” he wrote. 

“If $200M was just the warm-up… what’s next?”

XRP Holders Should 'Protect Themselves' Amid Chris Larsen-Linked Sales
XRP balance of wallet linked to Chris Larsen. Source: Maartunn/X

XRP was one of the major altcoins leading the sector’s comeback this month after Bitcoin (BTC) began consolidating.

Currently at $3.18, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, XRP/USD has since corrected 13%.

XRP Holders Should 'Protect Themselves' Amid Chris Larsen-Linked Sales
XRP/USD 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

“Don’t get dumped on. Don’t be the exit liquidity. Protect yourself,” Maartunn added.

Other popular market participants joined the concerns, including trader ManLy.

Bitcoin price shrugs off massive 80,000 BTC sale

Larsen’s presumed sales came as Bitcoin itself faced snap downside pressure as a Satoshi-era whale sold 80,000 BTC, which had previously been dormant for 14 years.

Related: Ether to show Bitcoin ‘leadership’ as BTC ETFs lose $285M: Research

The transaction was handled by Galaxy Digital and briefly caused BTC/USD to drop to around $114,500 before rebounding.

During the volatility, 24-hour crypto liquidiations passed $500 million, per data from monitoring resource CoinGlass.

XRP Holders Should 'Protect Themselves' Amid Chris Larsen-Linked Sales
Total crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.