Whales Take Profit on Bitcoin and XRP as BlackRock Demand Rises
XRP (XRP)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
U.Today reports that the cryptocurrency market is consolidating sideways with a total capitalization of $2.68 trillion on Wednesday, August 26. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $314.37 million in net inflows for seven consecutive days, while Ethereum ETFs attracted $179.80 million, led by BlackRock's ETHA. Bitcoin whales realized $614 million in profits in a single day, pushing the unrealized profit margin to 20.5%, the highest level since June 2025.
Despite this selling pressure, the Bull-Bear cycle indicator has entered the green Early Bull zone, mirroring the setup from January 2023. Bernstein analysts updated their forecast, projecting Bitcoin could reach $150,000 by mid-2027 and potentially peak near $300,000 in 2029. They also set a long-term target of $1 million by 2033, citing sovereign debt pressure and fiat debasement.
BlackRock's IBIT fund has seen over $5 billion in private in-kind exchanges after lowering the minimum threshold for conversions from $25 million to $1 million. This change triggered a competitive response, with Bitwise lowering its own limit from $100 million to $3 million to prevent client outflows. On-chain data confirms that long-term investors are using current liquidity to partially move into cash. Meanwhile, XRP has corrected to $1.41 after a 45% macro rally, though corporate liquidity inflows into the XRPL suggest utility is beginning to outweigh retail speculation.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for XRP, measured when this story was written up on 26 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
XRP is currently trading at $1.42, showing a mixed short-term flow profile compared to the broader day. The 1-hour buy ratio stands at 51.1%, indicating immediate buying pressure, while the 4-hour ratio is slightly lower at 48.4%. Over the last 24 hours, the buy ratio is 51.9%, suggesting that buying interest has held steady over the full day despite the dip in the 4-hour window. The 24-hour volume delta is positive at $8,976,592, confirming that net buying has outweighed selling over this period. The Cumulative Volume Delta closed at +$134,926, further supporting the view that buyers are currently in control of the immediate flow. This positive delta aligns with the higher 24-hour buy ratio, showing that accumulation is occurring on a daily scale even if hourly momentum fluctuates.
The latest daily buy ratio of 50.6% sits at the 83rd percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 48.5% - stronger buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What XRP did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for XRP, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
This trading activity contrasts sharply with the preceding week, where XRP saw a 28.7% price increase but suffered a net volume delta of -$61,148,055. The 24-hour buy ratio of 51.9% is notably higher than the 7-day average of 48.9%, indicating a shift toward more balanced buying in the short term. However, the 24-hour spot volume of $238,596,035 is only 0.51 times the weekly average, showing that trading activity is currently half of what it was over the past week. While the price surged significantly over the eight days, the lack of net buying volume (0 of 7 days of net buying) suggests the previous rally was not supported by consistent accumulation. Today's positive volume delta represents a change from the net outflow seen over the previous week, marking an unusual day of net accumulation relative to the recent trend.