XRP Faces Growing Concerns Over Whale Dominance Amid Supply Scarcity

XRP boasts a surprisingly high number of whale addresses, which has recently drawn attention from enthusiasts like Chad Steingraber. This concentration of supply could potentially lead to a scarcity issue for XRP in the near future, particularly as the SEC lawsuit against Ripple nears resolution.

Despite XRP having a total supply of 100 billion tokens, its actual availability in the market remains lower than commonly perceived. This scarcity is partly due to Ripple's control over a significant portion of the supply through an escrow system, which gradually releases tokens. Approximately 40 billion XRP are currently held in escrow, effectively limiting the circulating supply. As demand continues to outpace the supply released, significant buying pressure mounts on the limited XRP available on exchanges.

In addition to the tokens in escrow, retail traders face further challenges from the accumulation of XRP by large holders. The top 10 XRP addresses alone control approximately 11.2 billion tokens out of the current 55.6 billion in circulation. Similarly, the top 50 addresses hold around 26.9 billion XRP, highlighting a concentration of ownership that surpasses other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, where the top 103 addresses own less than 16% of the total supply.

This imbalance in supply and demand sets the stage for XRP whales to exert considerable influence over market dynamics. While the increasing scarcity might concern new retail traders seeking to acquire XRP, it also reflects strong confidence in the future price potential of XRP. As observed by Steingraber, retail demand ultimately dictates price trends, suggesting that heightened demand could drive XRP prices higher.

At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.4759, experiencing a recent decline but showing signs of stabilization around $0.4620. Historical data indicates positive price performance for XRP in July over the past four years, with potential for a rebound similar to previous trends, possibly reaching around $0.70 by month's end.