Large investor activity on the XRP Ledger has intensified significantly, with transactions valued at more than $1 million surging 280% to exceed 38 in the past 24 hours. Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez highlighted this spike on X, noting that whale activity has "exploded" despite the asset's stagnant price action. XRP continues to trade near the $1 support level, remaining approximately 73% below its all-time high of $3.84, which was set in January 2018.

Market Context and Technical Levels

The sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization faces significant headwinds. Following a sharp decline from its 2025 highs, XRP has slid more than 9% over the past month. At the time of writing, the token was exchanging hands at $1, down 0.64% in the last 24 hours.

Martinez remains cautious about the technical structure, identifying $1.06 as a decisive resistance level. He noted that maintaining value above this threshold could allow bulls to push the price toward $1.35 and $1.64. Conversely, a break below $1.06 could see the cryptocurrency plummet to $0.80 or even $0.62, with potential downside extending toward $0.70. The analyst emphasized that XRP must clear this "huge resistance" before the outlook turns decisively bullish.

Network Activity vs Price Action

While price action remains bearish, network usage metrics show contrasting movements. Active addresses on the XRP network averaged around 35,700 per day in August, up from approximately 26,400 in July. This increase in daily active addresses occurred alongside the price depreciation.

XRP Ledger validator Vet highlighted XRP’s built-in role as a bridge asset on the network’s decentralized exchange (DEX). The XRPL can automatically route trades through XRP to improve execution efficiency. However, Vet noted that only 0.16% of DEX trades over the past 72 hours currently use this functionality. He argued that there is considerable room for adoption if usage eventually reaches double-digit percentages, potentially allowing the protocol-native DEX to aggregate liquidity more efficiently than fragmented smart-contract-based exchanges.

Institutional Developments

Ripple’s partnership with South Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank adds another institutional use case around the broader XRP ecosystem, aimed at modernizing cross-border payments for Korea’s regional banking sector. While this highlights growing institutional engagement, Ripple Payments adoption does not necessarily translate directly into XRP usage or demand.

What the Numbers Show

A divergence exists between whale accumulation and broader market sentiment indicators. While large holders increased their transaction frequency by 280%, technical indicators present mixed signals. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator flashed a "Sell" signal based on the comparison between 12-period and 26-period exponential moving averages. In contrast, the Commodity Channel Index (CCI) signaled a "Buy," measuring the difference between current price and historical average price. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovered just below the neutral centerline, indicating a balance between buying and selling pressure.

Sentiment in prediction markets remains cautious regarding near-term recovery to historical peaks. Polymarket, a Polygon-based prediction platform, currently assigns only a 6% chance of XRP surpassing its all-time high of $3.84 before the end of the year.

Ripple has secured its first partnership with a regional bank in South Korea, signing an agreement with Jeonbuk Bank to deploy Ripple Payments for cross-border remittances. The deal enables near real-time settlement for the bank's global business customers, including import-export companies, IT startups, and online content creators.

The partnership replaces traditional SWIFT-based transfers, which typically take days and involve multiple intermediaries, with a system that completes settlement in seconds to minutes. The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Strategic Expansion in Korea

This agreement represents Ripple's third major institutional partnership in Korea this year, covering distinct segments of the financial market:

• Kyobo Life Insurance: Exploring on-chain government bond settlement.
• Kbank: Deploying institutional wallet infrastructure through Ripple Custody.
• Jeonbuk Bank: Handling cross-border remittances via Ripple Payments.

Together, these deals span custody, payments, and treasury management across Korea's institutional financial sector.

Fiona Murray, Ripple Managing Director for Asia Pacific, stated that regional banks play a vital role in the real economy and that this partnership extends near real-time settlement directly to businesses served by Jeonbuk Bank.

Park Choon-won, President of Jeonbuk Bank, added that the deal positions the bank as a digital finance leader meeting global standards rather than just a regional lender.

XRP Price Action

Despite the corporate developments, XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) closed at $0.9943 on Monday, testing the $1 level for the ninth consecutive session. Each retest of the $1 level has landed weaker than the previous one.

Technical indicators show the Parabolic SAR flipped bearish at $1.0271, stacking alongside the 20-day EMA at $1.0283 as immediate overhead resistance. A daily close below $0.98 would confirm a breakdown, while a strong close above $1.03 would delay it.

What the Numbers Show

Ripple's strategy in Korea demonstrates a segmented approach to institutional adoption, with each of its three major partnerships this year targeting a different financial vertical: insurance (Kyobo), digital banking (Kbank), and regional banking (Jeonbuk). This diversification suggests an effort to cover the entire spectrum of institutional financial services rather than focusing on a single banking tier.