500 Million XRP Moved from 'Held' Wallet to Five New Addresses

A 'held' wallet moved 500 million XRP to five new addresses. The transaction, valued at approximately $649 million (89.6 billion KRW) based on the prevailing price, did not show evidence of selling or customer withdrawal. Bitcoin.com News reported that on September 17, a 'held' (12) wallet sent 10 million XRP to five new addresses over 16 minutes. The five addresses were created just hours before significant deposits occurred. Each address received an initial deposit of 60 XRP, 70 XRP, 80 XRP, 90 XRP, and 100 XRP respectively before the main transaction. XRP Ledger requires a minimum balance to activate addresses, making these pre-deposits potential clues for tracking the address creator. However, on-chain records alone cannot definitively determine who controls the five addresses. It is possible that an exchange activated the external withdrawal addresses on behalf of customers. Therefore, this movement cannot be conclusively labeled as a reorganization of held storage or a large customer withdrawal.

As of 2:30 PM KST on September 18, no further transfers were detected from the five receiving addresses. Each address also received small deposits of approximately 0.00001 XRP from an address that distributed funds to 109 wallets, a pattern typically classified as 'dust spam.' This transaction compares to one on September 14 when a 'held' (4) wallet sent 145.6345 million XRP to addresses activated by held over several months, valued at around $26.5 million (284 billion KRW). In that case, the receiving address was activated with 5 XRP, tested with 50 XRP, and then used for the main transaction. The funds remained in the address afterward. This time, five new addresses were created on the same day and received equal amounts. While splitting a balance across multiple addresses can prevent concentration of assets in one location, this pattern alone does not distinguish between internal cold wallet division or customer withdrawals.

XRP Forecast recorded that as of September 4, major 'held' labeled addresses held approximately 147 million XRP. XRP Insights also reported on September 18 that five publicly identifiable wallets under the 'held' label contained about 147 million XRP. However, exchange wallet balances may include customer assets, so these figures cannot be definitively considered as held's own assets. Following the spread of a post announcing the large XRP movement on September 17, some market participants on social media interpreted the repeated 10 million XRP transfers as 'pre-arranged institutional desk orders,' though this is speculative and not confirmed by the transaction parties or held. Held has not publicly explained either this transaction or the September 14 one. The only confirmed fact remains that 500 million XRP moved from a 'held' labeled wallet to five new addresses. Whether it represents actual selling or customer withdrawal will be determined by subsequent movements in the receiving addresses and any official statements from held.