XRP’s bullish setup: $2.2B in whale buying and a breakout 7 months in the making

Ripple [XRP] has not managed to close a day’s trading above $1.544 since early February. Throughout 2026, the bulls have tried to force such a breakout four times, with the latest attempt coming on the 22nd of August.

They were pushed back each time, but the bullish belief in recent weeks has helped XRP push past this level. A daily session close above $1.544 was achieved on Tuesday, the 22nd of September.

Strong speculative activity underlines XRP enthusiasm

Crypto analyst Darkfost observed that the XRP’s Open Interest witnessed a growth spurt, reaching $600 million on Binance, the highest level since January. It is a genuine trend shift that began alongside the price gains in August.

The 180-day moving average of OI was at $445 million, and the breakout past this significant OI underlined the speculative growth and bullish confidence in the altcoin.

However, swing traders should remember that excess leverage can lead to high volatility and swift corrections.

Network activity surge shows active whale participation

A week ago, popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez had warned in a post on X that whales were accumulating XRP. Whale activity had increased noticeably, and large holders had accumulated around $2.2 billion worth of XRP in a span of four days.

Santiment data agreed with these findings. There were 1,917 $100k+ whale transactions when XRP broke above the $1.60 mark. Network growth also spiked to 3,647 new XRP wallets.

Institutional access was also improving the odds of a constructive setup, Santiment noted. Bitwise filed a revised XRP spot ETF registration on the 18th of September.

Sosovalue data showed that spot XRP ETFs attracted inflows for most of September. Additionally, Bitcoin’s breakout past $82.8k had given altcoin market participants more bullish conviction, increasing the chances of a sustained rally.

Final Summary

• The XRP breakout past the $1.50 supply zone from February was a notable achievement from the bulls that can spark a sustained uptrend.
• Rising whale activity and heavy Open Interest underlined bullish conviction but also warned of potential volatility if conditions get overheated.