In a recent development, cryptocurrency exchange Binance took swift action, freezing $4.2 million worth of XRP following a substantial hack on the personal wallet of Chris Larsen, Ripple's co-founder. This marked a significant event, becoming the largest hack of 2024 thus far. Contrary to initial speculation about Ripple being hacked, Larsen clarified in his post on X that it was his personal accounts compromised, not the company itself.

Binance CEO Richard Teng expressed gratitude for the coordinated efforts with on-chain sleuth ZachXBT and the Ripple team, emphasizing the absence of crypto mixer services or decentralized exchanges in the exploit. The hacker's attempt to launder 213 million XRP through various exchanges, including MEXC, Gate.io, Kraken, OKX, and HitBTC, triggered a response from Binance, freezing a portion of the stolen funds. However, other exchanges like OKX and Kraken remain silent on their actions. Simultaneously, Binance CEO Teng disclosed that XRP Ledger developers flagged the exploit to exchanges, leading to the freezing of $4.2 million in XRP tokens. The cooperation between exchanges and Ripple in investigating the breach aims to recover the funds and monitor the exploiter's external wallets.

While the hacking incident created ripples in the XRP community, the cryptocurrency has exhibited resilience in the market. Amidst bearish sentiments triggered by Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments, XRP, along with select altcoins, including Solana and Chainlink, ended the week positively. Despite the personal wallet hack, XRP managed to reclaim support/resistance at $0.5, displaying a 0.7% increase in the last 24 hours.

Chris Larsen reassured the community about the security of Ripple wallets, clarifying that the network itself was not compromised. Ripple is actively collaborating with law enforcement to freeze a significant portion of the stolen funds, emphasizing its commitment to recovering the rest.

Interestingly, the market response was not only limited to stability but also witnessed increased interest from whales. Large transactions worth over $1 million in XRP surged to 217, indicating confidence among major holders. Blockchain analytics platform Santiment noted that wallets holding at least 10 million XRP combined to hold 67.2% of the available supply, a notable increase since December 31, 2022.

(Source: Santiment)

Looking ahead, the article explores the potential trajectory of XRP's price. Despite the bearish signals from the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, there's optimism fueled by whale accumulation. The article highlights the importance of XRP holding above $0.5 to trigger momentum for a move towards $1, while acknowledging potential technical challenges.

In conclusion, the XRP ecosystem is navigating challenges with resilience, addressing the aftermath of a significant hack while maintaining a forward-looking perspective on its market trajectory. Investors and enthusiasts continue to watch closely as the community collaborates to ensure the security and stability of the XRP network.