On-chain data reveals that large XRP holders have been steadily increasing their positions since the beginning of 2026 as the price declined. Since January, when XRP's price fell from around $2.40 to the current range of $1.00 to $1.20, whale addresses have remained active in buying, though this activity has not triggered a significant recovery in the market price.
Data from on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant indicates that the average single order size for XRP spot trades throughout 2026 has consistently been at the "whale" level as defined by the firm. Meanwhile, the 90-day cumulative taker volume delta, which measures whether buyers or sellers are the aggressive party, has returned to a neutral level after showing taker buying dominance at the start of the year. The firm notes that the current market state is characterized by "silent accumulation" and a bottoming phase, with no signs of capitulation selling or a confirmed breakout. Whales, typically referring to large token holders, are closely watched because their trading behavior often leads, rather than follows, market trends.
Compared to XRP, Ethereum's valuation logic presents a more compelling case. As of August 6, Ethereum's price stands at approximately $1,900, while its realized price—the weighted average cost basis of all tokens—is around $2,450. This means the current price is below the overall holder cost, leaving holders in an unrealized loss position. In contrast, Bitcoin's current price is about 17% above its realized price of $52,900, and XRP's current price of around $1.10 compares to its realized price of approximately $0.75. Ethereum is the only one among the three major crypto assets trading below its average holder cost.
Looking at the holder structure, the position changes across different wallet sizes for Ethereum show clear divergence. Wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH have seen their total holdings rise from around 14 million ETH in mid-2025 to a current record high of approximately 19.6 million ETH. Whale addresses holding over 100,000 ETH, after dropping to around 2.6 million ETH in mid-2025, recovered to about 4.6 million ETH by May 2026, an increase of roughly 1.8 million ETH. In contrast, wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH have shown an inverse trend, peaking at around 15.6 million ETH in January 2026 before declining to the current level of about 12.9 million ETH.
For Bitcoin whales, excluding exchange and mining pool addresses, holdings hit a low of around 2.87 million BTC in December 2025 before steadily recovering to their current level of approximately 3.06 million BTC. The most significant whale accumulation occurred in June when Bitcoin's price fell below $60,000, but current holdings remain about 170,000 BTC below the cycle peak of roughly 3.23 million BTC seen during the 2025 bull market.
CryptoQuant's analysis suggests that the market is in the late stages of a downtrend, while also clearly stating that valuation levels still have room for further decline. The firm indicates that a trend reversal can only be confirmed after the bottom is established. It specifically highlights that Ethereum's price falling below its cost basis is the most noteworthy indicator at present—Ethereum is the only asset among the three that has, in a book-value sense, experienced capitulation selling. This mirrors similar valuation levels and distance-to-lower-band characteristics seen when Ethereum bottomed out in early 2025.
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