XRP has had a difficult 2026, posting a 20.7% decline year to date despite a modest 7.7% recovery following the US-Iran conflict. At current prices around $1.45, the token remains well below the highs many holders bought into. Yet beneath the surface of that price weakness, an on-chain signal is telling a different story. According to Santiment data, wallets holding at least 10,000 XRP have climbed to an all-time high of 332,230, extending a broader upward trend that has been building since June 2024. Santiment noted that rising wallet counts in this cohort typically signal growing conviction among holders who are less focused on short-term price swings and more focused on longer-term positioning.
What makes the trend particularly notable is that it has continued through a period of sustained price underperformance. Many of the holders adding to their positions have been doing so while XRP traded below previous highs, choosing to accumulate during fear rather than chase momentum during brief rallies.

The cohort sitting at the 10,000 XRP threshold occupies a specific and meaningful tier in the market, sitting above typical retail traders but below large institutional whales, and is generally associated with high-conviction individual investors and smaller funds. When this group grows steadily over an extended period, it represents a quiet reshaping of the supply structure that does not show up immediately in price action but can have significant implications for how the token behaves when broader market conditions eventually turn more favorable.