Following a 41.51% year-to-date (YTD) to $1.08 and the increased uncertainty regarding the highly anticipated CLARITY Act vote, August is shaping up to be a pivotal month for $XRP.
Ripple sees bright $XRP Ledger future on greater institutional adoption
To begin with, Ripple’s own leadership appears positive about the token’s future as company President Monica Long took to X on August 4 to claim her firm witnessed a ‘veritable light switch flip.’
Specifically, she highlighted the growing institutional move toward 24/7 trading as a positive sign for the ecosystem while pledging to keep working toward providing ‘the full stack of digital asset infrastructure.’
In the last year, we’ve seen the veritable light switch flip – from bank pilots to production, from issuing tokenized assets like money market funds and liquidity funds to using them! Institutional capital markets are moving in one direction — onchain 24/7. At Ripple, our goal… https://t.co/DPhbEBY3Dr
— Monica Long (@MonicaLongSF) August 4, 2026
Elsewhere, circumstantial evidence appears to be backing either Long’s institution-focused bullish thesis or a different positive catalyst.
Did reduced ‘whale’ activity drop resistance to an $XRP price rally?
On August 3, an X user known as Xaif Crypto pointed out that the so-called ‘whales’ have been moving $XRP off of Binance, thus dropping the exchange supply ratio to 0.03.
According to the post, the trend is reducing resistance to a potential rally and might indicate that the wealthiest investors ‘know something.’
$XRP WHALES ARE PULLING COINS OFF BINANCE AND NOT LOOKING BACK 🐋
— Xaif Crypto (@Xaif_Crypto) August 3, 2026
Wallets moving 1M+ $XRP now make up 55.3% of ALL Binance outflows biggest players are grabbing bags and walking away from exchanges 👀
Exchange supply ratio already crushed to 0.03 less $XRP available to sell =… https://t.co/09U3IZfM16 pic.twitter.com/dNxfC5jxVI
Notably, a wider trend for reduced ‘whale’ activity was noted already on July 12 when Ali Martinez, a popular on-chain analyst, highlighted the vast drop from 70 daily transactions involving more than $1 million to 2 on the day.
$XRP price could soar to $1.64 in August…or drop to $0.62
More recently, the blockchain expert also concluded that $XRP is nearing a pivotal price level at $1.06. Though Martinez offers no insights into whether the next move will be upward, he emphasized that, should the price be held, the token could soar up to $1.64.
However, he also warned that failing to hold support could send the cryptocurrency crashing to $0.62.
Everything comes down to $1.06 for $XRP.
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) August 3, 2026
• Hold it, and bulls can target $1.35 and $1.64.
• Lose it, and the path opens toward $0.80 and potentially $0.62. https://t.co/e2h0F1pU0S pic.twitter.com/75wm1fWunj
Meanwhile, the reduced ‘whale’ transactions and uncertainty could simultaneously be the result of $XRP’s historical performance – and might end up dampening the optimism of Ripple President Monica Long.
Does $XRP price history indicate no rally in August?
Specifically, despite remaining in headlines for years, $XRP has given its holders little reason to celebrate in nearly two years.
Indeed, after having its price depressed by a then-ongoing dispute between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the token suddenly shot up on President Donald Trump’s re-election.
Subsequent trading has, through significant volatility, ultimately seen $XRP first stagnate and then plunge from the $3.40 highs from mid-2025 to $1.08 at press time.
While a CLARITY Act vote – still expected before the August recess – could provide a strong bullish catalyst potentially driving the cryptocurrency even higher than the $1.64 Martinez estimated, the lack of a decisive new high after the SEC-Ripple resolution might serve as a warning both for August and the long-term.
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