XRP whale withdrawals on Binance just hit their highest single-day level since February, with large holders moving 122 million XRP off the exchange on May 22. Every transaction in that count cleared the 1 million XRP threshold, so this is strictly whale-scale activity. Right now, the timing also matters quite a bit: Ripple is set to unlock 1 billion XRP from escrow on June 1, worth roughly $1.36 billion at current prices. At the time of writing, XRP whale activity is also unfolding against a backdrop of Binance liquidity falling to its lowest point since January 2020.
XRP Whale Activity Surges As Ripple Unlock Nears Again
The Biggest XRP Binance Withdrawals Since February
May 22 marks the first time since February 9 that a single day saw more than 100 million XRP leave Binance through whale-sized transactions. Back on February 9, the figure reached 278 million XRP, the highest single-day reading this year. The latest number is lower, but it also represents a sharp jump from the activity recorded in the weeks prior.
CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha flagged the data and also noted that the share of daily Binance outflows from wallets above the 1 million XRP mark climbed to 57.6%, the highest reading since March 28. What makes this XRP whale accumulation pattern notable is the price context. The February spike came when XRP traded near $1.43. The May 22 surge in XRP whale withdrawals happened around $1.35, so roughly 5.6% lower. Large holders keep moving significant amounts off the exchange even with price softer than it was during the last major outflow event.
Liquidity On Binance Drops To A Six-Year Low
Alongside the withdrawal surge, CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain also reported that XRP’s 30-day liquidity index on Binance fell to around 0.043, its lowest reading since January 2020. Between 2022 and 2024, that same index reached readings above 3 and 4 points. Arab Chain stated:
Arab Chain stated:
“The XRP market appears to be experiencing a clear period of weak activity, which could pave the way for sharper price movements if liquidity returns and trading volumes increase in the coming period.”
In a thin market like that, XRP Binance withdrawals at the scale seen on May 22 carry a lot more weight. When the order book gets shallow and large holders keep pulling XRP off the exchange, the supply sitting available for immediate selling on Binance shrinks. Any real shift in demand gets amplified fast.
What Ripple Actually Does With The 1 Billion XRP Unlock
The June 1 escrow release is a scheduled event. Ripple set up the system back in December 2017 by locking 55 billion XRP into time-based contracts on the XRP Ledger, with up to 1 billion tokens releasing on the first of each month. Historically, Ripple re-locks between 600 million and 800 million XRP into new escrow contracts shortly after each monthly release. That puts the net addition to circulating supply somewhere between 200 and 400 million XRP, worth around $272 million to $544 million at current prices rather than the full headline figure. XRP’s circulating supply right now sits at about 61.85 billion out of a maximum of 100 billion tokens.
On the institutional side, XRP also pulled in $119.6 million in inflows last week, its strongest weekly performance since December 2025, pushing year-to-date inflows to $159 million. Binance XRP reserves also fell to a three-month low on May 24, with Arab Chain placing holdings near 2.70 billion tokens after weeks of gradual decline. The XRP whale accumulation trend has clearly been building for a while now, and the June 1 Ripple XRP unlock lands right in the middle of it.
Also Read: When Should I Cut Losses and Sell XRP? Key Levels & Recession Impact
Whether the XRP whale withdrawals trend continues past the unlock will likely depend on how much of the June 1 release Ripple decides to re-lock and whether broader demand picks up in the days after.