The XRP token fell below the $1 threshold in mid-August 2026, reaching a level not seen since late 2024. This price action continues a broader corrective trend following a decline below 1.40 dollars recorded during earlier market trading sessions.
Over the 30 days leading up to August 13, 2026, XRP dropped by more than 5%, marking the second-largest monthly decline among top 10 cryptocurrencies. During that same timeframe, Hyperliquid dropped about 10% and Dogecoin fell 2%.
$XRP just closed at its lowest since November 2024, and the on-chain read is more interesting than the price.
📉 Price closed at ~$1.00 on Aug 12, the lowest daily close since Nov 2024 and roughly 69% below the January 2025 peak near $3.30.
📊 Activity picked up anyway. Active… pic.twitter.com/3JcxJjWNFd
— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) August 13, 2026
Despite the downward price pressure, XRP whale accumulation showed a contrasting trend. According to data published by Santiment, the tier of addresses holding at least 1 million tokens grew by 32 wallets over a three-month period.
Whale Accumulation and On-Chain Metrics
On-chain analytics firm CryptoOnchain reported that Binance deposit addresses for XRP fell nearly 96% compared to quarterly averages. Simultaneously, exchange inflows dropped 79% and outflows dropped 85% relative to their respective 90-day baselines.
Daily active addresses on the XRP network averaged roughly 35,700 throughout August 2026, rising from 26,400 in July. August 11, 2026, marked the single highest daily network activity recorded since June 5.
However, Santiment noted that new address creation remained flat at roughly 2,260 per day in August 2026, compared to 2,270 in July. The uptick in active addresses reflects increased transactions among existing token holders rather than network expansion.
This internal network behavior differs from previous market cycles where an institutional surge in XRP propelled broad capital inflows across digital asset markets. In August 2026, institutional participation through spot investment vehicles slowed noticeably.
Derivatives Slowdown and ETF Stagnation
Derivatives data from Binance showed the taker buy/sell ratio falling to approximately 0.86 in August 2026, its lowest reading since May. Analysis from Arab Chain indicates that values below 1 represent a dominance of executed sell orders.
The cumulative volume delta (CVD) hovered near -4.15 million tokens in August 2026. This metric signals that overall market order flows remained slanted toward net selling pressure, offsetting buying activity in spot markets.
On the institutional front, spot XRP ETFs recorded four consecutive sessions with zero net flows heading into August 12, 2026. According to records from SoSoValue, total net inflows for August reached just $1 million through August 12.
For the week ending August 7, 2026, spot XRP funds registered $1.01 million in net inflows. This figure represents a 93% decline from $14.86 million recorded during the prior weekly session.
While Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana maintained modest monthly gains during the 30-day period ending August 13, 2026, XRP logged a weekly price loss exceeding 3%. The asset continued trading near its $1 support level.
The divergence between whale accumulation and derivatives selling highlights a fractured market structure. Increased token absorption by large holders has not yet generated sufficient spot demand to counter ongoing exchange sell pressure.
Market participants await the release of weekly ETF flow reports for the period following August 12, 2026, to determine whether institutional demand recovers or if net outflow pressure persists.
This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice.
