Ripple Co-Founder Transfers 20 Million XRP, Sparking Selloff Fears And Wallet Hack Concerns

An XRP wallet which likely belongs to Chris Larsen, one of the largest holders of XRP, has made another notable transaction in what looks like a preparation for a selloff. The transaction, which took place within the last 48 hours, triggered a series of subsequent transfers in the past 24 hours, ultimately connecting with the crypto exchange Binance.

Notably, the transaction in question involved the movement of 20 million XRP tokens from a wallet linked to Chris Larsen into a private wallet linked with selloffs to Binance. 

For context, one of the wallets belonging to Larsen, co-founder of payments technology company Ripple, transferred 50 million XRP into wallet “raorBm” on September 16, triggering reactions from XRP enthusiasts. This reaction was actually warranted, considering the address in question had not witnessed any substantial outflow since its creation. 

Despite the sizable nature of the transaction, it is important to note that the 50 million XRP moved into “raorBm” represented only a small portion of the wallet’s overall holdings. The address itself is considered one of the largest individual wallets in the XRP ecosystem, with a balance of approximately 450 million XRP at the time of writing. 

Following the transfer to address “raorBm,” things were quiet for the next few days, with the motive for the transfer remaining unclear. However, on September 20, the situation began to take shape when “raorBm” initiated a series of transactions. A total of 20 million XRP tokens were transferred from “raorBm” to another wallet identified as “rHoXdf” through four consecutive transfers, each involving 5 million XRP. Following the transactions, “raorBm” retained 30 million XRP from the initial 50 million tokens it received up until the time of writing.

Notably, the narrative has evolved in the past 24 hours. The 20 million XRP previously moved to “rHoXdf” was transferred once again, this time to a new private wallet identified as “rJYpdF” in what seems like the last shuffle before the final selloff into Binance. The final clue pointing towards a selloff came when 2 million XRP were transferred from the “rJYpdF” wallet to a Binance wallet within the past 24 hours. 

The final transaction noted above suggests that the initial transfer of 50 million XRP was made from Chris Larsen’s wallet with the aim of selling the tokens. As such, it is only pertinent to expect a selloff into Binance in the coming days, even if it is just the 20 million XRP tokens. 

There is also a possibility that the transfer was the result of another hack on one of Chris Larsen’s wallets. Back in February, similar transactions linked to the Ripple co-founder resulted from a hack that saw 213 million XRP worth $120 million carted away. However, these remain speculations at this point, as Larsen has yet to comment on the transfers.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView