XRP Whale Accumulation and ETF Demand Offset Washington Setback
Published on 09/21/2026 at 14:50 | Editorial boerse-global.de
A wave of large-scale buying has reshaped the XRP order book at the start of the new trading week, with deep-pocketed investors snapping up tokens even as lawmakers in Washington left the asset class without a unified rulebook.
Data from analytics firm Santiment shows so-called crypto whales acquired roughly 1.54 billion XRP over a 96-hour window. Those transactions carried a value of about $2.2 billion and pushed the holdings of large wallets to just under 9.81 billion tokens. The accumulation has helped cushion the blow from the collapse of the Clarity Act in the US Senate a little over a week ago.
XRP changed hands at $1.42, holding a 13% premium to its 50-day average of $1.26. By Monday, the token had climbed 5.0% to $1.48, with market watchers pointing to sustained institutional interest as the main driver of the improved tone.
Ten Straight Weeks of ETF Inflows
Spot funds tied to the asset have extended their run of net inflows, according to media reports, notching a tenth consecutive week of positive flows through September 18. Cumulative volume reached roughly $1.71 billion — a signal that professional investors are standing behind the market despite recent political headwinds.
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The token's integration into conventional finance is advancing on several fronts. A September 8 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that broker Charles Schwab has pledged XRP ETFs as collateral for repo transactions. A day later, the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation registered options on the Evolve XRP ETF and the Purpose XRP ETF for US distribution.
Ripple Brass Defends Legal Footing
Company executives have pushed back against the notion that the legislative deadlock changes the picture. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on Sunday that the firm's business and legal position remains intact. Chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty struck a similar note on Wednesday, describing a dependable legal framework for the token and citing 2023 court rulings along with SEC and CFTC guidance from March 2026.
Fresh capital has also been flowing into the broader ecosystem. Evernorth, a firm focused on XRP treasury strategy, agreed to issue $30 million in convertible preferred notes, with NH Investment & Securities as the subscriber. The notes carry a 4% coupon and mature in 2031. The deal is tied to a merger expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 involving Armada Acquisition Corp. II, Pathfinder Digital Assets and Ripple Labs. Once that closes, the company is targeting a listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN, with proceeds earmarked for operating costs and targeted XRP purchases.
Derivatives Access Widens, Ledger Upgrade Nears
Additional momentum is building in international derivatives. The Moscow Exchange plans to launch perpetual futures on XRP on Tuesday, trading under the ticker XRPUSDF and tracking a proprietary index — a move that broadens access for professional participants in Eastern Europe.
On the technology side, the XRP Ledger is closing in on activation of the Batch V1.1 update, scheduled for September 29. The proposal has drawn an 82.86% approval rate among network validators. RippleX, the development arm, released the XRPL AI Starter Kit v1.1 last Thursday, a package supporting Stripe's Machine Payments Protocol and Tempo. The goal is to let autonomous AI agents settle payments automatically, with dedicated XRP Ledger payment channels capable of processing more than 100,000 transaction receipts per second, according to the developers.
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Ripple will outline further plans at the Swell 2026 conference in New York in late October.
Exchange Inflows Flash a Caution Sign
Not every on-chain metric points the same way. CryptoQuant recorded roughly 1.6 billion XRP flowing into Binance over the past 30 days, the highest reading since March. Large deposits to centralized venues have historically signaled either rising sell pressure or preparation for derivatives activity. The question for holders is whether whale demand can absorb that potential overhang.
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