XRP DEX Surges to 954K Transactions Amid Mysterious Price Volatility – What’s Driving the Sudden Shift?

The price of XRP has dropped to $2.21 despite record usage of XRPL’s native DEX, revealing a worrying market divergence.

The XRP Ledger’s native decentralized exchange (DEX) just hit an all-time high of 954,000 daily transactions on November 4, according to on-chain data.

While this activity marked one of the busiest days in recent months for the network, the market performance of its associated XRP token presents a different picture.

Record XRP DEX Activity Fails to Lift Price

At first glance, the increase in the number of transactions appeared to signal stronger network health and adoption within the XRP ecosystem. However, a closer look showed a worrying disconnect.

According to analyst CryptoOnchain, unlike another surge in usage in July, which coincided with a major price jump, the latest record came as XRP’s price fell from the $3 range in early October to around $2.21 at the time of this writing. This divergence between transaction growth and market value suggests the high volume may not come from genuine buying interest.

Instead, the market watcher pointed to potential “large-scale selling, whale distribution, or automated arbitrage trading” as the real drivers of the activity. In other words, traders may be using the DEX to rebalance or exit positions rather than accumulate tokens.

“Elevated network activity is not always bullish,” cautioned CryptoOnchain, adding that investors should treat the mismatch between usage and price as a possible red flag.

“Until price action aligns with on-chain growth, this metric should be viewed as a potential warning sign rather than a buy signal,” he wrote.

Whales Reduce Exposure as Broader Market Wobbles

Data from CoinGecko has confirmed XRP’s downward trajectory. The asset has fallen 15.9% over the past week and 26% in the last month and was trading nearly 39% below its July all-time high of $3.65 at press time.

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Whale behavior also intensified the current market turbulence. As CryptoPotato previously reported, large XRP holders sold roughly 900,000 tokens in just five days, contributing to the week’s double-digit slide. On-chain data also indicates that while whale-to-exchange transfers have slowed since late October, recent selling may still be weighing on sentiment.

But XRP is not alone. The broader crypto market suffered heavy losses as well, with Bitcoin (BTC) dropping below $99,000 for the first time in five months and Ethereum (ETH) slipping under $3,200. In total, over $1.75 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours, with $38.6 million tied to XRP.

Despite the general gloom, analyst Egrag Crypto argued on X that XRP’s “stronger resilience” compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum could mark the end of the selloff. He pointed to a potential “accumulation zone” around $1.94, suggesting the current weakness might be the last shakeout before recovery. However, market confidence is still an issue, and the decline is being reflected in CoinMarketCap’s Fear & Greed Index, which recently dropped to 20, its lowest level in months.