Ripple’s XRP investors book over $4 billion in profits amid South Korea’s declaration of martial law

• Ripple’s XRP declined briefly after South Korea declared martial law.
• XRP whales have weathered over $4 billion in realized profits in the past three days.
• XRP could spring to a new all-time high if it recovers above the $2.58 level.

Ripple’s XRP is down 5% on Tuesday after news of South Korea declaring martial law sparked a surge in selling activity and significant profit-taking among investors. However, whales have stepped up buying pressure as the remittance-based token looks to stage a recovery.

XRP’s rally temporarily affected by halting of trading in South Korean exchanges

After its impressive rally in the past week, XRP briefly declined 7% on Tuesday following news of South Korean President Yoon declaring martial law. The news triggered panic selling among investors, with prices on Korean exchanges deviating from the general spot market.

XRP was one of the most affected among top cryptocurrencies, falling briefly to $1.89 on South Korean crypto exchanges Upbit, which holds the largest XRP reserve among centralized exchanges, and Bithumb before they temporarily halted trading. The decline is due to the region’s high concentration of XRP holders.

However, the remittance-based token is beginning to recover as its 24-hour trading volume has risen to $44.5 billion — only behind USDT and Bitcoin in the entire crypto market, per Coinmarketcap data. The volume is likely dominated by buying activity due to the recent recovery in XRP’s price from the $2.40 lows seen in the spot market earlier in the day.

While profit-taking has been rampant, with XRP investors realizing over $4 billion in profits in the past three days, whales have weathered the selling activity, steadily increasing their holdings in the same period.

XRP Network Realized Profit & Loss, XRP Supply Distribution (1M-10M coins) | Santiment

Austin Reid, Head of Revenue and Business at crypto brokerage firm FalconX, echoed a similar sentiment in an X post on Tuesday, stating that institutional accumulation is behind XRP’s rally. “We’ve seen 10x growth in volume at FalconX between the first and second halves of Q4. This isn’t just retail action —institutions are driving the momentum,” wrote Reid.

This is also evident in the Whale to Exchange Flow — which measures whale activity — reaching significant levels not seen since XRP was launched.

XRP Whale to Exchange Flow | CryptoQuant

Meanwhile, Ripple investment products registered net inflows of $95 million — their highest weekly inflow, according to CoinShares digital assets weekly report. This comes as expectations grow around the SEC potentially approving applications for an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.

XRP could spring to a new all-time high if it recovers above $2.58

XRP is testing the $2.58 level of a key rectangle channel after sparking over $86 million in total liquidations in the past 24 hours — higher than Bitcoin’s, per Coinglass data. Liquidated long and short positions accounted for $41.74 million and $44.91 million.

XRP/USDT daily chart

The remittance-based token needs to recover the $2.58 key level before stretching its rally toward the upper boundary of the rectangle channel at $3.57 to set a new all-time high.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has remained at heated levels in the overbought region, indicating a price correction is imminent.

A daily candlestick close below $1.96 will invalidate the bullish thesis.