Binance Is Dumping XRP, Expert Says Amid Price Decline

TLDR

Table of Contents

XRP dropped 4% in a week while the broader crypto market showed recovery.
Analyst claims Binance used Wintermute to sell $1.5B in Ethereum.
Active XRP Ledger addresses fell from 45,000 in July to 20,000 now.
Whales added 340M XRP despite market concerns over token dumping.

XRP is under pressure again after a new claim suggests Binance is dumping the token to suppress its market performance. A well-known crypto analyst alleges the exchange is using market makers to offload large amounts of XRP, leading to growing concerns about possible market manipulation. This news follows a 4% drop in XRP’s price, even as the broader crypto market showed recovery signs.

Analyst Accuses Binance of Applying Sell Pressure

A crypto analyst known as Pumpius has claimed that Binance is placing large sell orders on XRP to limit its growth. He stated on X that this is part of a broader strategy used by the exchange to keep the token from gaining upward momentum. According to him, the exchange’s business model is tied to retail trading and it benefits when prices remain volatile and predictable.

Pumpius also noted that there is a repeated pattern in how XRP performs after Ripple-related announcements. He pointed out that every time Ripple secures positive headlines, XRP sees unusual selling activity on Binance. This, he suggests, is not accidental but part of a plan to maintain XRP’s role as a regular altcoin in the market.

Crypto analyst Pepesso supported this view, adding that Binance also offloaded over $1.5 billion in Ethereum last week. The transactions reportedly went through the market-making firm Wintermute to hide Binance’s involvement. According to Pepesso, such activity is designed to trigger sell-offs and liquidations, which benefit the exchange through trading fees.

XRP Shows Weakness Despite Market Recovery

While Bitcoin and Ethereum showed signs of recovery, XRP dropped by 4% over the past seven days. The price is currently trading at around $2.80, recovering slightly by 1.94% in the last 24 hours. This underperformance is raising concerns among traders who expected XRP to break out following recent positive developments.

On-chain data reveals that the number of active addresses on the XRP Ledger has dropped. From about 45,000 in mid-July, the figure is now closer to 20,000. This suggests fewer users are interacting with the network, possibly due to price uncertainty and market pressure. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index also moved from a “greed” level to “neutral,” reflecting cautious sentiment.

Source: TradingView; XRP Price Daily Chart

Still, large holders, often referred to as whales, appear to remain active. Data shows they have added 340 million XRP tokens to their holdings in the past two weeks. This suggests that while retail investors may be retreating, bigger players continue to position themselves for a longer-term view.

Ripple Ecosystem Sees Progress in Asia

Despite the pressure on price, Ripple’s network is expanding. Recently, Chinese supply chain firm Linklogis announced that it would use the XRP Ledger for its global finance platform. This move adds to Ripple’s growing list of institutional use cases in Asia, a key market for blockchain-based financial solutions.

This adoption could be helping to support some confidence in XRP’s long-term potential, even if short-term prices remain under strain. However, the continued accusations against Binance are drawing more attention to how exchanges may be influencing token performance behind the scenes.

As of now, Binance has not issued a statement in response to the recent claims. The situation continues to be monitored by traders and analysts alike as the XRP market adjusts to both external and internal pressures.

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