The price of Ripple (XRP) recovered the $1 mark, trading at $1.02 as of 6:33 p.m. on the 12th, according to CoinMarketCap data. XRP, which recently briefly dipped below $1 — a psychological support level — is showing positive signals in its on-chain metrics.

According to overseas crypto media outlet CoinGape, despite a somewhat bearish price trend, the number of whale (large investor) wallets and network active addresses have increased significantly.

Citing data from on-chain data analytics firm Santiment, CoinGape reported that the number of wallets holding 1 million XRP or more increased by 32 over the three months since May 2026. Santiment analyzed that whales are showing positive movements as the XRP Ledger expands its reach into tokenization, payments, and settlement, alongside the growing adoption of the RLUSD stablecoin. This suggests that XRP holdings are moving from weak hands to strong hands.

Santiment stated, "Strong holders are absorbing the sell-offs driven by fear, and patience is taking hold instead of mere price speculation," adding, "Future volatility could present an interesting trend for those expecting an upside."

However, while whales have been buying XRP, retail investors appear to have been selling. According to CoinGape, XRP's market capitalization declined by 29% over the past three months during which whales continued their accumulation.

Network activity is also robust. According to CoinGape, citing crypto analyst Ali Charts, the number of XRP active addresses surged by 84%, from 23,642 on August 1 (local time) to 43,543 on August 11. This increase came amid ongoing new improvement efforts on the XRP Ledger, and CoinGape projected that this would lead to greater usage of the XRP Ledger in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

The increase in network activity is continuing even as the likelihood of the CLARITY Act being approved in 2026 diminishes. Prediction markets currently place the probability of the bill being enacted into law this year at 22%.

CoinGape analyzed that the phenomenon of increasing network usage despite remaining negative factors for the price can be interpreted as a bullish divergence, suggesting that users are not heavily concerned about the short-term bearish outlook for XRP's price.

Meanwhile, the price of XRP fell below $1 on August 12 (local time). This marks the first time XRP has dropped below the psychological support level of $1 since November 2024.

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