Whales Wane, Institutions Rise... XRP Market 'Warning Light' Despite XRPL Expansion

XRP demand is weakening across physical ETFs, futures, and overall network activity. CryptoSlate reports XRP physical ETF recorded $7.2 million net outflows during the week ending June 10, ending a nine-week inflow streak. Global XRP futures open interest dropped from ~$3 billion in June to ~$2.3 billion mid-July. While weekly outflows are among the largest this year, cumulative net inflows remain at $1.48 billion, with total assets under management near $1 billion. Short-term demand weakness signals outweigh long-term trends. Derivatives markets showed sharper leverage contraction, with global XRP futures open interest down ~$700 million in a month. Binance's open interest fell from over $500 million in mid-June to $399 million on June 10, while funding rates surged 266% weekly. Long liquidations accelerated 94% weekly and 172% vs. three-month average, while short liquidations dropped by more than half. On-chain metrics also showed similar trends, with XRPL recording its second least active week of the year and active wallets at 25,350, down to November 2024 levels. New wallet creation hit a 2130-level low. However, network activity didn't disappear entirely, with source-tagged transactions rising 28.6% and source-tag counts up 13%.