Share this article

Billions in BTC, ETH, XRP Flowed to Exchanges After Trump’s Reserve Plans

Inflows to exchanges from funds and traders usually imply an intention to sell, as large token holdings are usually stored in cold (or offline) wallets.

Updated Mar 5, 2025, 2:21 p.m. Published Mar 5, 2025, 11:02 a.m.
USDT inflows surged during recent BTC price dip. (dimitrisvetsikas1969/Pixabay)

What to know:

  • Following President Trump's announcement of including crypto assets in the U.S. strategic reserve, billions in XRP tokens and thousands of bitcoin were moved to exchanges, possibly contributing to their price fluctuations.
  • CryptoQuant analysts suggest that the rise and sudden fall of cryptocurrencies indicate a contraction in real spot demand, making it challenging to sustain a rally in crypto prices.
  • CryptoQuant analysts observed a decline in Bitcoin's apparent demand growth, suggesting that sustaining a rally in crypto prices may be challenging unless demand increases.

Billions in XRP tokens and thousands of bitcoin were sent to exchanges shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed plans to include the assets as part of a U.S. crypto strategic reserve, one that may have contributed to their rapid price reversals after a surge.

Hourly inflows reached up to 193 million XRP after Trump’s message with most of the flows coming from whales (or influential holders of any asset) executing transactions of 1 million or more XRP, on-chain analysis firm CryptoQuant said in a Tuesday report.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

On the other hand, the hourly amount of bitcoin flowing into exchanges increased from 500-1,000 to a high of 6,739 BTC a day after the announcement. Meanwhile, ETH inflows into exchanges spiked to almost 300,000 in an hour.

Inflows to exchanges from funds and traders usually imply an intention to sell, as large token holdings are usually stored in cold (or offline) wallets

Meanwhile, CryptoQuant analysts noted that the rise and sudden fall of cryptocurrencies on Monday and Tuesday indicated that real spot demand continued in contraction territory.

“Bitcoin apparent demand growth has continued to decline after a period of acceleration in November–December 2024 spurred by the U.S. election results and is now in contraction territory for the first time since September 2024,” analysts said. “Unless Bitcoin demand starts to increase again, sustaining a rally in crypto prices will remain challenging.”

Apparent demand is an on-chain metric used to gauge the balance between Bitcoin's production (newly minted coins through mining) and changes in its inventory (coins that have been inactive for over a year). Retail accumulation has been down since early November, as CoinDesk previously reported.

More For You

Accelerating Convergence Between Traditional and On-Chain Finance in 2026?

More For You

Wall Street analysts slash Coinbase price targets after Q4 miss — but shares rally

Coinbase

Barclays, Benchmark, Clear Street, and JPMorgan all cut targets, citing weak retail trading and macro headwinds.

What to know:

  • Coinbase shares rose 12% even as the company missed fourth-quarter revenue and profit expectations and reported a significant hit from unrealized crypto and strategic investment losses.
  • Several analysts cut their price targets and flagged near-term earnings and consumer monetization pressures.
  • However, analysts highlighted the company's growing derivatives business, stablecoin footprint and subscription offerings as signs of a more diversified model.