• XRP investors made over $5.86 billion in profits during the week.
• Although XRP whales make an average profit of almost 400%, they tend to accumulate slightly.
• XRP needs to clear $2.92 to start a rally to a new all-time high.

Ripple’s XRP rose 7% on Friday as whales hold on to their tokens despite heavy profit-taking from retail traders. This attitude from whales could push XRP to a new all-time high of $3.57.

XRP on-chain data suggests bullish sentiment despite record profit-taking

After extending its rally and rising to a four-year high of $2.91 on Tuesday, XRP experienced a pullback, falling about 17% over the following three days.

The decline may have been triggered by increased profit-taking, as shown by the XRP Network Realized Profit and Loss indicator, which shows that investors have booked over $5.86 billion in profits since December 1st. Such profit-taking is normal for investors, especially in bull markets when prices reach new highs.

XRP network realized profits and losses | Santiment

This is evidenced by the “XRP Mean Coin Age” metric, which shows that sales activity increased across all coin ages during the week, particularly among the 2-3 year old cohorts. If this metric shows a decline, it indicates a distribution within the respective coin age cohort.

XRP medium coin age | Santiment

Despite the recent decline due to profit-taking, other XRP on-chain data suggests that bullish sentiment still prevails in the market.

The XRP market value to realized value ratio (MVRV), which measures the average profit or loss of all holders, shows that investors still retain over 388% of the profit.

Notably, most of the selling activity recently may have come from retail traders as whales have shown a slight tendency to accumulate. This can be seen in the chart below, which shows that investors holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP increased their holdings of XRP tokens by 260 million during the week.

XRP Supply Distribution (1M – 10M) and MVRV Ratio | Santiment

Additionally, Santiment data shows that whale activity – transactions over $1 million – reached its highest level in five years during the week.

Spent XRP Age | Santiment

However, it is important to note that there are also a lot of new XRP whales who purchased the token after the US presidential election. This cohort could panic if XRP falls near their cost base.

Additionally, weekly active XRP addresses have continued to grow, reaching a 16-month high of 495,000.

Meanwhile, Ripple Labs Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz said at the Emergence conference on Friday that he is confident the company will launch its RLUSD stablecoin before the end of the year. Members of the crypto community had expected the launch on Wednesday, but Ripple debunked rumors of a possible launch this week.

XRP needs to clear $2.92 before it can start a rally to a new all-time high

XRP rebounded from the 23.6% Fibonacci (Fib) retracement level after briefly falling below it during the week. If XRP manages to recapture the $2.58 level, it could retest the $2.92 level where it saw rejection.

XRP/USDT weekly chart

A move above this level could see XRP reach the maximum profit target of a multi-year rounded bottom by rising above its all-time high of $3.4 and setting a new record at $3.57.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is in overbought territory, suggesting that prices are overheating and a possible correction is imminent. The Stochastic oscillator is in overbought territory but is trending lower, indicating a weakening of bullish momentum.

A weekly candlestick close below the $1.96 level near the 50% Fibonacci retracement will invalidate the bullish thesis and lead to XRP finding support near the 61.8% Fibonacci level.

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