Glassnode information reveals that XRP’s alternate balances hit their lowest stage since 2018 in late December, sparking the standard wave of accumulation part hypothesis and “tight provide = moon” commentary.
Whereas the eight-year low encompasses the complete alternate ecosystem, CryptoQuant information for Binance affords a current window into whether or not these troughs truly precede rallies.
Binance’s XRP reserves dropped to roughly 2.6 billion by mid-December 2025, matching the July 2024 low, after peaking above 3.5 billion in early September.
The query is not whether or not provide thinned, however whether or not prior episodes of equally low Binance reserves preceded medium-term outperformance, or whether or not the sample is simply noise dressed up as sign.
First drawdown into the July 2024 low
After an early-year build-up from roughly 2.6 billion to simply over 3.0 billion XRP, Binance reserves rolled over round late March and floor decrease into early July, bottoming close to 2.7 billion.
In keeping with the CryptoQuant chart, XRP traded roughly between $0.48 and $0.71 throughout the second quarter of 2024, averaging $0.56.
By way of Could, it drifted decrease into the low-to-mid $0.50s. By late June, it hugged simply above $0.50, with the native trough barely under that, round $0.48.
The explosive transfer from sub-$1 costs in October to roughly $2 by November and over $3 in January 2025 occurred months later, as soon as reserves had already climbed again above 3 billion.
Month-to-month closes jumped from about $0.51 in October 2024 to $1.94 in November, $2.08 in December, and $3.04 in January 2025.
The July 2024 low in reserves coincided with depressed value, however the large rally arrived solely after an extended lag and after alternate balances had re-expanded, not in the intervening time of tightest provide.
Put up-spike cooling with falling reserves
After the value spike within the fourth quarter of 2024, reserves on Binance sat above 3.2 billion XRP in October and November 2024, then trended down into early 2025, reaching roughly 2.8 billion by March.
That second clear tightening episode got here from elevated ranges relatively than from a multi-year low. Value habits was simple: it cooled off.
XRP closed round $2.08 in December 2024, peaked close to $3.04 in January 2025, then slipped again to roughly $2.09 between February and March, buying and selling within the low-$2s by means of spring.
As Binance reserves quietly bled decrease from post-rally highs, XRP principally misplaced altitude relatively than breaking into a brand new leg larger. Tightening right here regarded like profit-taking and rotation into self-custody whereas the value corrected.
From September spike to multi-year lows
Probably the most related tightening is the present one.
On Sept. 1, XRP reserves throughout main exchanges spiked larger by about 1.2 billion tokens in a single day. Binance’s share jumped from roughly 2.93 billion to three.54 billion XRP.
From October onward, the CryptoQuant chart reveals that XRP provide reversed path. Binance reserves slid from about 3 billion in early October to roughly 2.7 billion by late November, then to round 2.6 billion by mid-December, the bottom stage since July 2024.
Over that very same window, XRP month-to-month closes drifted down from about $2.85 in September to $2.51 in October, $2.16 in November, and $2.03 in December.
That is roughly a 30% value drawdown whereas provide on Binance was tightening. Up to now, this appears far more like “tight provide plus weak tape” than a traditional supply-squeeze rally.
The market has shifted cash off Binance into ETFs and self-custody, however the spot value has continued to bleed decrease into the $1.80-$2.00 vary.
What the sample reveals and why it may be completely different this time
Throughout the 2024-2025 window on the CryptoQuant chart, there are actually solely two true trough bands in Binance reserves at or close to at present’s ranges: July 2024, round 2.7 billion XRP, and the present zone, round 2.6-2.7 billion.
In between, reserves fell a few occasions from larger ranges, however these have been drawdowns from above 3 billion relatively than recent lows.
Within the second quarter of 2024, tightening into the July low first coincided with underperformance, adopted by a giant rally months later, after balances had risen once more.
That is an ambiguous bullish precedent at greatest. In early 2025 and once more lately, the sample is easier: reserves development down, and costs development down with them. Tight provide has not but changed into an apparent squeeze-style upside within the 30 to 90-day window.
Up to now, it is extra a narrative of lowered sell-side liquidity throughout a correction than a clear purchase sign.
The July 2024 trough occurred earlier than spot XRP ETFs existed.
The present drawdown happens in an surroundings the place ETFs have attracted over $1 billion in internet inflows, with belongings below administration close to $1.25 billion and 0 outflow days recorded by means of late 2025.
These cash stay in custodial wallets relatively than on buying and selling venues, so some alternate shortage displays structural demand and plumbing, comparable to ETF mechanics shifting cash off centralized order books, relatively than pure accumulation by conviction patrons.
Whale habits provides ambiguity. Provide distribution information reveals large swings in giant XRP holder cohorts by means of 2025, together with intervals the place whales dumped tons of of thousands and thousands of tokens whilst ETFs purchased and alternate balances fell.
Within the 2024-2025 Binance chart, each sustained tightening episode is adopted by both sideways-to-lower costs or a really delayed rally. The one actual bullish trough case in July 2024 required buyers to sit down by means of months of chop and a rebuild in alternate balances earlier than the massive transfer.
That makes at present’s low-reserve studying attention-grabbing, however removed from a assured springboard.
Low alternate provide has been a obligatory however inadequate situation for XRP’s upside, and the information do not assist the hopium narrative that tight provide mechanically results in rallies.
What they do present is that when the following catalyst hits, and it may be regulatory readability, institutional adoption, or a shift in macro sentiment, there can be much less provide obtainable on exchanges to soak up demand. Whether or not that catalyst materializes in 30, 90, or 180 days stays unsure.
