 ▲ A mysterious XRP (Ripple) sell-off bomb at South Korea’s crypto exchange Upbit… community in shock / Gemini-generated image |
An unusual phenomenon has been detected at Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, where a staggering 3.3 billion XRP (Ripple) have been sold over the past 10 months. This large-scale selling pressure, believed to have been driven by a specific algorithm, is being interpreted not as a simple market trend but as a structural event, sending shockwaves through the community.
According to crypto media outlet NewsBTC on February 18 (local time), cryptocurrency market analyst Dom claimed that approximately $5 billion worth of unilateral net selling occurred continuously over the past 10 months on Upbit’s XRP/KRW trading pair. After analyzing 82 million Upbit trade records, he found that the trading pattern on a specific day—when 57 million XRP were dumped over 17 hours—was not a one-off event but part of a prolonged and massive trend.
Dom analyzed that the selling pressure was most likely driven by a single bot or algorithm operating nonstop for 24 hours a day. In fact, 61% of all trades were executed within 10 milliseconds (0.01 seconds), and during the 17-hour period there was only a 33-second pause, with mechanical selling repeated throughout. Monthly data also consistently recorded massive net selling, including April (-165 million XRP), July (-197 million XRP), and October (-382 million XRP). Out of 46 weeks, only one week showed net buying dominance.
Even more shocking was that the seller appeared desperate to secure Korean won liquidity, even at the cost of price losses. From April to September, XRP prices on Upbit traded at a 3–6% discount compared to Binance—an “inverse kimchi premium”—yet the selling did not stop. After October, when buying from Korean retail investors pushed the premium back into positive territory, the pace of selling nearly doubled from 6.3 million XRP per day to 11.2 million XRP per day.
Dom noted that while the seller unloaded holdings in clean round-number units such as 10, 50, and 100, buyers placed many fractional and smaller orders, describing the situation as a “machine versus retail investors” dynamic. He questioned who could have dumped 3.3 billion XRP—equivalent to 5.4% of the total circulating supply—on a single exchange, and why they were in such urgent need of converting to Korean won that they were willing to absorb up to a 6% loss, emphasizing the need for further investigation.
Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference purposes only and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted solely for informational purposes.