XRP's Whale Accumulation Collides With an ETF Slowdown as SEC's Friday Agenda Shrinks
Published on 08/14/2026 at 11:11 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The divergence playing out across XRP's investor base has rarely been starker. On one side, large wallet holders are quietly stacking tokens near the psychologically charged $1 level. On the other, institutional demand via spot ETFs has all but evaporated. And the regulatory catalyst that traders had circled on their calendars for Friday is turning out to be far narrower than anticipated.
SEC's Tokenization Exemption Slips Off the Agenda
The US Securities and Exchange Commission's open meeting on August 14 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time will proceed, but the headline item many had expected is no longer on the table. According to Eleanor Terrett, a journalist citing a person familiar with the matter, the SEC has once again postponed its planned exemption for tokenized innovations. The official agenda now lists only a proposal for a "tailored offering regime" for certain crypto investment contracts — the tokenization carve-out no longer appears as a separate item.
The reasoning appears tied to ongoing negotiations over Section 10505 of the CLARITY Act, which would govern how tokenized securities are regulated. The SEC is reportedly hesitant to unveil its own framework while Congress is still hammering out the details. A unilateral move from the regulator could disrupt the delicate balance being struck between senators and other stakeholders. This is not the first time the agency has pulled back: in May, the SEC withdrew a similar proposal that would have broadly permitted US crypto firms to trade tokenized equities.
That said, the meeting still carries weight for Ripple. Bloomberg has reported that the Commission will examine a tailored offering regime for specific crypto investment contracts — a framework whose eventual tokenization component would touch Ripple's payments and custody operations directly. Stricter anti-money-laundering rules are also under consideration, including a requirement that trading platforms register as US companies.
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The Friday vote, analysts stress, marks only the beginning of a lengthy process. It would initiate a rulemaking procedure, not deliver an immediate regulation. Public comment periods and another Commission vote would need to follow before any final rule takes effect. The session also unfolds against the backdrop of a stalled legislative effort: the Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act last week.
ETF Inflows Collapse 93% While Bitcoin and Ethereum Surge Ahead
The more pressing development for XRP's price action is playing out in the fund complex. US spot XRP ETFs attracted just $1.01 million in fresh capital during the week through August 8 — a 93% plunge from the prior week's $14.86 million. The seven funds, which manage roughly $1 billion in combined assets and have accumulated $1.51 billion in net inflows since launch, saw their total net assets shrink from approximately $988 million to around $964 million over the period.
The weekly figures place XRP's fund family among the weakest major crypto ETF categories. Bitcoin products swung into positive territory, collecting $754 million over the same stretch, while Ethereum funds added roughly $195 million.
The week was not uniformly bleak, however. August 5 saw outflows of $3.58 million, and August 4 registered a flat net flow of zero. But by August 6, the institutional side reversed course, pulling in $3.45 million — the strongest single-day inflow of the entire week. That suggests conviction among fund investors has not entirely vanished, even if the comparison to Bitcoin and Ethereum remains unflattering. Market observers attribute XRP's specific weakness to the collapsed ETF inflows, sales from Grayscale holdings, the delayed legislation, and a lack of a distinct narrative of its own.
Whales Buy the Dip While Funds Hesitate
On-chain behavior tells a different story. According to Santiment, large XRP wallets holding between 100 million and 1 billion tokens increased their share of the total supply from 10.6% to 11.99% — a signal of accumulation at lower prices. Smaller wallets that had previously sold began buying again starting August 6. Santiment data also shows that major addresses purchased more than 380 million XRP over the past week, concentrated around the $1 mark, bringing certain large-holder groups to combined positions of roughly 8.1 to 8.13 billion tokens.
CryptoQuant data supports the accumulation thesis. Order sizes remain in large-whale territory, while the cumulative volume delta stays neutral — suggesting buyers are absorbing existing supply rather than aggressively bidding at any price.
Exchange flows add nuance. Glassnode recorded inflows to trading platforms for most of the week — typically a bearish signal. But on August 6, over 2 million tokens left exchanges, a classic marker of accumulation. One interpretation frames the divergence as rotation rather than retreat: institutions are not abandoning XRP entirely, but shifting capital into larger, more liquid vehicles like Bitcoin and Ethereum funds.
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Price Holds the Dollar Line by a Thread
XRP currently trades at roughly $1.00 to $1.01, defending a level that buyers have protected since the token slipped below it for the first time this year. The proximity to annual lows is uncomfortable: the token sits just 1.1% above its recent yearly low, and only 1.8% above its 52-week trough of $0.99. The 50-day moving average of $1.08 remains above the current price, pointing to a downward short-term trend.
The longer-term picture is bleaker still. XRP is down 45% since the start of the year and 67% over a twelve-month horizon. It sits 70% below its 52-week high of $3.35 from August last year. The 200-day average stands at $1.30, leaving XRP 22% beneath it — firmly in technically damaged territory.
XRP thus finds itself caught between two opposing narratives. The SEC meeting on Friday represents a formal step toward clearer federal rules for crypto offerings and tokenized assets — a domain with direct relevance to Ripple's payments and tokenization plans. Yet the ETF data shows institutional demand nearly grinding to a halt while Bitcoin and Ethereum funds surge. Whether whale buying can offset flagging fund flows is a question that will likely only be answered in the weeks following the SEC's decision. For now, the token's fate hinges on whether the $1 floor holds long enough for Washington to deliver something concrete — and whether the tokenization exemption, once again deferred, ever materializes at all.
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