XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) on-chain data reveals significant accumulation by large holders and rising derivatives activity, diverging from recent price performance. While the asset's market capitalization fell 29%, the number of wallets holding at least 1 million XRP increased by 32 over the past three months, according to Santiment data cited on Aug. 11.

Whale Accumulation Amid Market Downturn

The divergence between wallet growth and market capitalization suggests institutional or large-scale investors are absorbing selling pressure. Santiment noted that the count of million-XRP wallets grew despite the broader market contraction.

This accumulation coincides with developments in Ripple’s infrastructure, specifically the growing institutional presence of its RLUSD (CRYPTO: RLUSD) stablecoin. The analytics firm highlighted Ripple’s payments, custody, and tokenization infrastructure as fundamental drivers supporting this holder behavior.

Network Activity and Derivatives Surge

Network usage metrics show a sharp increase in engagement during August. Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez highlighted that active addresses climbed 84.18%, rising from 23,642 on Aug. 1 to 43,543.

Derivatives markets also reflect increased trader exposure. Open interest in XRP futures rose to 2.67 billion XRP, valued at nearly $2.73 billion. This represents an increase from $2.41 billion as of Aug. 1, indicating higher leverage and speculative positioning despite the muted spot price action.

What the Numbers Show

The simultaneous rise in active addresses (84.18%) and futures open interest ($2.41 billion to $2.73 billion) alongside whale accumulation suggests a decoupling of network utility and derivatives speculation from immediate spot price realization. While large holders are increasing positions, the 29% drop in market cap indicates that selling pressure from other segments continues to offset this demand.

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) fell to $1 for the first time since November 2024 after a security breach drained roughly 200,000 XRP from the Coreum bridge on the XRP Ledger. The incident highlights vulnerabilities in cross-chain infrastructure, where a software logic flaw allowed an attacker to exploit the bridge’s relay system without stealing private keys. This event has intensified selling pressure, pushing the asset to levels not seen in nearly two years.

The Coreum Bridge Exploit

Blockchain analytics site XRPL.to reported that the Coreum bridge held approximately 200,410 XRP on August 9 before the balance dropped to 493.5 XRP within 97 minutes. The attacker did not send any real XRP to the bridge. Instead, they moved the bridge’s own token between two of their own wallets while attaching a fake deposit label.

The bridge’s software detected this transaction in its history and incorrectly interpreted it as a genuine incoming deposit. Consequently, the system credited the attacker with XRP they had never actually sent. With this fraudulent balance established, the attacker withdrew real XRP through standard channels, and the bridge approved every payment request.

The stolen funds were forwarded to older staging wallets within hours, a pattern consistent with money laundering techniques. The bridge halted operations the following afternoon. XRPL.to concluded that the vulnerability lay in the relay software’s logic, which explains why all 21 independent relayers were simultaneously deceived by the same trick.

Market Reaction and Technical Analysis

Analyst Ali Martinez flagged on X that XRP is now down 71.7% from its July 2025 all-time high of $3.66, reaching extremely oversold levels. Martinez noted that the Tom DeMark Sequential indicator flashed a monthly buy signal, a technical event that previously preceded a 1,074% rally after an April 2020 signal and a 973% rally after an August 2022 signal.

Martinez stated that new buy signals are emerging at current levels, describing it as the point where market dynamics start getting interesting. Despite the bearish sentiment driven by the hack, technical indicators suggest potential for a reversal if support holds.

Key Price Levels

XRP touched $0.9905 intraday on Tuesday, briefly breaking below the psychological $1 barrier before buyers intervened to push the price back to a close at $1.01. This marks the second test of the $1 level since June 26, but the recent move was more significant as the price pierced below it before recovering.

A volume surge of $2.39 billion in futures occurred exactly when the price broke below $1, indicating a genuine market flush. Traders are now monitoring key levels to determine the next direction.

What the Numbers Show

The correlation between the hack and the immediate price drop to multi-year lows suggests that market participants are reacting sharply to infrastructure risks. The fact that the exploit relied on a logic flaw rather than key theft implies that similar bridges may be vulnerable to identical attacks, potentially creating broader systemic risk for assets relying on these intermediaries. The high volume at the $1 break confirms strong sell-side conviction, but the rapid recovery above $1 indicates persistent buyer interest at these discounted valuations.