XRP On-Chain Activity Explodes By 500%, What’s Going On?

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) has witnessed a dramatic surge in on-chain transactions, with payment volumes between accounts surging by 500%. This sharp increase highlights a significant rise in transactions and address activity on the blockchain, marking one of the highest spikes recorded this year.  

XRP Sees Record-Breaking On-Chain Activity

Data from XRPScans confirms that on August 18, 2025, the XRP Ledger recorded a massive rise in network activity, processing 844,516,631 tokens in payments between accounts. This figure dwarfs the average daily flows seen throughout this month. The surge also marks an increase of more than 500% compared to the previous day, when payment volume totaled only 159,685,255. 

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Typically, such spikes in on-chain activity often indicate growing adoption, whether through institutional participation, retail engagement, or whale repositioning. Historically, sudden bursts of transactional volume have preceded major price movements, as they tend to reflect rising demand.

XRPScan’s payments chart also highlights the cryptocurrency’s shifting volume trends throughout the year. For much of 2025, XRP payments largely fluctuated at a lower baseline, with occasional bursts of activity. While August stands out, July saw an even more heightened activity, with 1.41 billion payments logged on the 21st. 

Despite the sharp rise in on-chain activity, the XRP price has yet to reflect the surge, trading without any significant upside reaction. However, sustained growth in payment volume could strengthen the cryptocurrency’s underlying fundamentals, potentially setting the stage for a new wave of market interest. 

Whale Sell-Offs Weigh On Price

Over the past week, the XRP price has dropped roughly 10% to around $2.89 despite the recent spike in payment volume. According to a post on X social media by crypto exchange XChangeOn, this decline has been partially attributed to heavy whale selling and ongoing market volatility. 

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In just ten days, a staggering 470 million XRP were offloaded, with several of these transfers exceeding 100 million tokens each. XChangeOn noted in its post that much of this supply had found its way to Binance, adding significant selling pressure to the already fragile market. 

Interestingly, these moves came after whales had accumulated over $360 million worth of XRP during earlier price dips, suggesting that large players may now be realizing profits or repositioning ahead of broader market shifts. XChangeOn indicated that the growing selling pressure has placed XRP at risk of testing support levels between $2.70 and $2.50. From the current price of $2.89, this represents a potential decline of approximately 6.6% and 13.5%, respectively. 

If downward pressure continues, the cryptocurrency is expected to experience further weakness in the short term. However, XChangeOn notes that reduced inflows to exchanges and renewed whale accumulation could act as stabilizing forces.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com