TLDR
- Ripple moved 75 million XRP, worth around $108 million, to Coinbase on April 21
- Funds passed through a chain of Ripple sub-wallets before reaching Coinbase subwallets
- XRP is trading at around $1.44, up 1.6% on the day, with futures open interest at $2.60 billion
- Experts suggest the transfer may be linked to liquidity management or institutional ETF activity, not a sell-off
- XRP spot ETFs have seen daily inflows totaling $67.47 million every day since April 10
Ripple moved 75 million XRP to Coinbase on April 21, according to on-chain tracking service Whale Alert. The transfer was worth approximately $108 million at the time.
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 75,000,000 $XRP (107,058,283 USD) transferred from #Ripple to unknown wallethttps://t.co/sWWHqfjG51
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) April 20, 2026
The funds did not go directly to Coinbase. They first moved from a Ripple wallet to an intermediary address, then split into five separate sub-wallets, each receiving 15 million XRP. Two of those wallets then sent a combined 50 million XRP to Coinbase sub-wallets.
Wallet “rwtzRv” sent 25 million XRP to a Coinbase sub-wallet linked to Coinbase account 8. Wallet “rDKARn” sent another 25 million XRP to a sub-wallet linked to Coinbase account 4.
Ripple regularly moves large amounts of XRP through intermediary wallets. The company uses this process for liquidity management, over-the-counter trading, and its On-Demand Liquidity platform, known as ODL.
Despite the size of the transfer, some analysts are urging caution before labeling it a sell-off. They point to Ripple’s stated strategy of keeping XRP central to its business, which the company has referred to internally as its “North Star.”
Possible Link to Institutional ETF Activity
The timing of the transfer lines up with a stretch of consistent inflows into spot XRP exchange-traded funds. Since April 10, XRP spot ETFs have recorded inflows every single day, totaling $67.47 million across that period.
Analysts suggest Coinbase may be acting as a custodian or authorized participant for these ETF products. Under that theory, Ripple would be supplying XRP to Coinbase to fill large institutional orders rather than converting holdings to cash.
Ripple has also been expanding partnerships with institutional custodians in 2026, with Coinbase frequently serving as a distribution hub for ODL payment corridors.
Still, the transfer has drawn attention from the crypto community. When Ripple executives move XRP to exchanges, it is generally viewed as a bearish signal. Ripple executive chairman Chris Larsen sold XRP holdings last year, which triggered concern among investors at the time.
XRP Price and Derivatives Data
XRP is currently trading at $1.44, up 1.6% in the past 24 hours. The asset has been ranging between its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, with analysts watching for a breakout from a symmetrical triangle pattern.
Trading volume dropped 12% over the last 24 hours, pointing to reduced activity among traders.
Derivatives data from CoinGlass shows total XRP futures open interest rose 0.75% to $2.60 billion. On the CME exchange, four-hour futures open interest climbed over 0.20%. On Binance, the same metric rose 1.44%.
XRP recently hit $1.50, a level CoinGape had flagged in an earlier analysis. The asset is also seeing activity tied to the launch of wrapped XRP on the Solana network.
