TL;DR

Whales have purchased almost $400 million worth of XRP in the last two days, which could potentially drive upward pressure on the assets valuation. Growing anticipation for a spot XRP ETF, with SEC acknowledgment of filings from Grayscale, 21Shares, and Bitwise, could provide a major catalyst for future price movement.

Time for Another Rally?

While XRP remains in green territory on a weekly scale, the price has recorded some setbacks in the past few days. It plunged below $2.50 on February 18 before rising above the current $2.60 (per CoinGeckos data).

According to the popular X user Ali Martinez, whales have used the recent drop as an opportunity to accumulate additional tokens, buying 150 million XRP in the last 48 hours. As of writing these lines, the stash equals almost $400 million.

Continuous efforts in that field will reduce the coins circulating supply, potentially making it more valuable (assuming demand doesnt head south). In addition, the actions of those investors are sometimes mirrored by smaller players who might also join the ecosystem, thus injecting fresh capital.

Shortly after highlighting the whales efforts, Martinez outlined a price prediction for Ripples native token. Based on the potential breaking out of an ascending triangle on the lower time frames, he believes it might climb by 4% to $2.68.

Another person who chipped in was EGRAG CRYPTO. They suggested that XRP needs to stay above $2.69-$2.73 in the 4-hour time frame to invalidate the bearish count and begin a bullish continuation. 

ETFs Pile up

An important factor that may positively impact the price of the asset is the possible approval of a spot XRP ETF in the US. Such a product will enable investors to gain exposure without having to purchase or hold the token.

Some of the companies that have already displayed their intentions to introduce that type of investment vehicle include Grayscale, 21Shares, and Bitwise. It is worth noting that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially acknowledged their applications.

This means that these applications are now under the regulators review, awaiting approval or rejection. The deadline for the final decision is 240 days from the initial filings. 

According to Polymarket, the chances of an approved XRP ETF before July 31 are 44%, while the odds of that to happen before the end of 2025 are 78%.