Is April's Bull Run Over? The Hidden Truth Behind XRP Institutional Demand Turning Negative

▲ XRP (XRP) / AI Generated Image ©

Major altcoins in the virtual asset market, which led the rebound with strong buying in the previous month, have faced an emergency in value defense this month, taking a direct hit from slowing institutional investor demand.

According to crypto media outlet Finbold on May 20 (local time), an analysis of on-chain data from blockchain data platform CryptoQuant revealed that the institutional accumulation model indicator for XRP (Ripple) on the Binance exchange has once again fallen into negative territory this month. This indicator, which tracks the net buying activity of large wallets, has dropped to around -0.0059, suggesting a clear weakening of buying pressure from whale entities. As a result, the welcome positive shift recorded in April came to an end in just one month. The positive record at that time was an encouraging achievement, appearing for the first time in six months.

However, experts note that the slowdown in institutional accumulation this month remains very close to the zero line. This suggests that rather than institutions beginning full-scale liquidation after the strong demand inflow observed since early February this year, they are in a phase of wait-and-see or caution. One expert from the media diagnosed that as long as the index remains close to the neutral zone, the market has not fully entered a stage of large-scale distribution or widespread institutional exodus.

Nevertheless, the actual volume of asset movement by large holders is substantial. According to recent on-chain data analysis, large XRP holders withdrew a staggering 403 million XRP from the Binance exchange between May 1 and May 15. This amounts to over $548 million when converted to current value. Such a large-scale exodus indicates that institutions and whale entities are diversifying their asset storage strategies rather than engaging in immediate buying and selling on the exchange.

The decrease in institutional demand and the movement of asset distribution by large wallets are directly reflected in the trading price, intensifying the bearish sentiment. Despite strong institutional interest last month, the XRP price has repeatedly failed to break through the strong resistance level and major supply zone of $1.50 in recent weeks. Ultimately, being blocked from upward movement, it underwent a correction, falling more than 3% over the past 30 days, and is currently trading around $1.36 as of Wednesday.

As a result, the altcoin's market capitalization evaporated by $475 million in a single day on Wednesday, shrinking to approximately $84.3 billion. Experts predict that if large XRP holders end their wait-and-see approach and fully turn into sellers engaging in full-scale distribution, further price drops and a cascading sell-off rally will be inevitable. Conversely, if institutional demand revives at this point and the indicator rebounds, it is expected to gain new momentum to break through resistance levels.

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