XRP DEX reaches 954,000 transactions as price faces selling pressure

XRP price has fallen to $2.21 despite record usage of the native XRPL DEX, revealing a worrying divergence in the market.

The XRP Ledger 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 Raise Price

At first glance, the increase in the number of transactions seemed to indicate greater network health and adoption within the XRP ecosystem. However, a closer look presented a worrying disconnect.

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

Instead, the market observer pointed to possible “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 instead of accumulating tokens.

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

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

Whales reduce exposure as broader market falters

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

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

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

Despite the general pessimism, analyst Egrag Crypto argument in X that XRP’s “increased resistance” compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum could mark the end of the sell-off. He pointed to a possible “accumulation zone” around $1.94, suggesting that the current weakness could be the last jolt before the recovery. However, market sentiment remains an issue, and the decline is reflected in CoinMarketCap’s Fear & Greed index, which recently abandonment to 20, its lowest level in months.