XRP, a cryptocurrency that has been in the spotlight due to SEC litigation and unexpected price movements, was involved in astonishing events on the evening of January 14, 2024. Billions of XRP were suddenly linked to transfer activities, leading to a frenzy among traders and investors. The situation escalated when information surfaced about a transfer of $15 billion worth of XRP to Bitfinex, representing nearly 25% of the circulating supply.
The excitement around XRP and Bitfinex quickly turned to confusion as the transfer was revealed to be a false attempt. Meanwhile, XRP whales continued their activities, notably transferring over $26 million worth of XRP tokens to Bitstamp, capturing the attention of the crypto community.
According to Whale Alert, a service that tracks large cryptocurrency transactions, 26.2 million XRP tokens were moved from an unknown wallet to Bitstamp. This whale transaction occurred within an hour after the Bitfinex incident came to light, with the Bitstamp transfer valued at approximately $15.16 million.
Whale Alert had previously reported a transfer of 25.6 billion XRP tokens, valued at $14.85 billion, to Bitfinex. Paolo Ardoino, CTO of a cryptocurrency firm, labeled this a “Partial Payment Exploit,” which was effectively blocked by Bitfinex. Whale Alert later clarified that the situation was due to a misinterpretation of a Ripple node response, leading to several incorrect postings, and the issue has since been resolved.
Despite the controversial whale transaction and a significant sell-off by a trader, XRP’s price remained stable, reflecting the cautious sentiment of investors. At the time of writing, XRP’s price was trading at $0.5792, showing a modest increase of 0.83%, with its market capitalization at $31.4 billion, up by 0.22%, and a 78.71% surge in trading volume over the past 24 hours.