Inside Ripple Co-Founder Chris Larsen's $175M Token Move: Market Reality Check

What Actually Happened?

In late July, blockchain monitoring services caught wind of a significant transaction—50 million XRP flowing out from wallet addresses connected to Chris Larsen, Ripple’s co-founder and Executive Chairman. The move stirred up considerable discussion across crypto communities, with many questioning whether this represented a bearish signal for the asset. The timing sparked speculation about insider confidence levels and broader market sentiment.

At approximately $3.50 per token at the time of the transfer, the transaction’s nominal value hovered around $175 million—enough to capture attention, but context matters when evaluating what it actually means.

Putting the Sale in Perspective

XRP maintains a circulating supply exceeding 60 billion coins. To quantify: Larsen’s 50 million token disposal accounts for merely 0.085% of the publicly tradable float. If every single token hit the order books simultaneously, the impact would be negligible in relative terms.

Several factors suggest this wasn’t an emergency liquidation:

Scale and holdings: Larsen maintains an estimated 2.5 billion XRP in his portfolio—roughly 50 times the amount he moved. This paints a picture of portfolio diversification rather than a crisis exit.

Price resilience: Following the initial 14% intraday pullback on July 25, XRP recovered roughly 50% of those losses within two days, ultimately maintaining its broader uptrend trajectory.

Rational motivations: High-net-worth individuals often structure asset sales for tax optimization, especially when holdings appreciate substantially. After XRP’s explosive run, rebalancing a concentrated position aligns with standard wealth management practices.

The market’s swift recovery suggested investors quickly recognized the transaction for what it likely was: routine portfolio management, not a red flag.

The Broader Bullish Narrative

Separate from insider transactions, XRP’s fundamentals appear constructively positioned:

Regulatory clarity: Ripple’s SEC litigation concluded favorably in March and June 2024, when the SEC abandoned its appeal and agreed to withdraw cross-litigations. Four years of regulatory overhang dissipated, potentially opening institutional capital flows previously restricted by uncertainty.

Revenue diversification: The company deployed a dollar-backed stablecoin in December, creating new utility vectors on the XRP Ledger. Institutional participants gain access to enhanced liquidity for larger transactions, incentivizing increased network adoption.

Technical expansion: June’s EVM sidechain deployment extended interoperability, allowing Ethereum developers to deploy smart contracts while maintaining XRP-denominated settlement. This bridged ecosystem approach broadens the network’s addressable developer base.

These developments suggest momentum building across multiple fronts—a picture that extends well beyond any single insider’s portfolio adjustment.

Where This Leaves Investors

The episode illustrates how quickly market psychology can amplify routine transactions into existential concerns. Larsen’s 50 million XRP sale represented textbook position management, not a capitulation signal. XRP’s price action confirmed this interpretation.

Current technical and fundamental conditions maintain favorable positioning for the asset. As of January 2026, XRP trades at $2.08 with a 30-day adjustment of +1.68%, reflecting market dynamics independent of insider sentiment.

For investors evaluating entry points, the question isn’t whether a co-founder sold some tokens—it’s whether the underlying network improvements justify long-term exposure. By that measure, 2025 onward presents a qualitatively different risk-reward profile than prior years.