TL;DR

Ripple whales continue to dispose of portions of the asset, according to recent data shared by popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez. Somewhat expected, the native tokens price has felt the consequences by dropping below $3 for the first time in four days.

Whales Back to Selling

Recall that Ripple whales began to sell noticeable amounts of the asset last week, as they dumped 40 million XRP in the span of just 24 hours. At the time, this stash equaled over $120 million worth of the cryptocurrency.

However, the assets price remained largely unaffected and remained above the crucial support at $3. Moreover, it kept climbing in the following few days and peaked on Saturday morning at $3.19. This became its highest price tag in a month.

It seems that whales used this price surge opportunity to secure even more profits. Further data from Martinez shows that these large market participants had disposed of 160 million XRP in the last two weeks alone. In terms of USD, this amount is worth nearly $500 million.

160 million $XRP sold by whales in the last two weeks! pic.twitter.com/TRT7y5dSA2

XRP Feels the Consequences Now

Although XRPs price was unfazed at first, the overall selling pressure and the broader markets retracement in the past few hours have pushed it south as well. Ripples cross-border payments token dipped below the aforementioned support at $3 earlier today and still struggles below it as of press time. It has lost 3.5% daily and more than 6.5% since the Saturday peak.

XRPUSD. Source: TradingView This correction could also be attributed to the latest developments on the SEC-Ripple ETF front, where the agency continues to deliver setbacks against issuers wanting to launch XRP ETFs.

Its also in stark contrast to what many analysts anticipated. As reported during the weekend, the majority of crypto market experts praised XRPs surge past $3 and $3.05, and outlined that the next target lies close to the July 2025 all-time high of $3.65.

However, the crypto market often tends to move in the opposite direction of what many people expect, which proved itself once again today.