Massive BTC, ETH, and XRP Inflows to Exchanges Following Trump’s Crypto Reserve Plans
Large cryptocurrency transfers suggest traders may be preparing to take profits.
Typically, when funds and traders move assets to exchanges, it signals a potential intention to sell, as long-term holdings are generally kept in cold storage.
Shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP in a U.S. crypto strategic reserve, billions of XRP tokens and thousands of BTC were sent to exchanges. This influx of assets likely contributed to the sharp price reversals following their initial surge.
According to on-chain data from CryptoQuant, XRP exchange inflows reached 193 million per hour after Trump’s announcement, with the majority of transactions coming from whales—large holders moving at least 1 million XRP at a time.
Bitcoin inflows also saw a dramatic increase, rising from 500–1,000 BTC per hour to a peak of 6,739 BTC the day after the news. Similarly, ETH inflows surged to nearly 300,000 ETH in a single hour.
CryptoQuant analysts noted that while prices initially spiked, the rapid rise and fall of BTC, ETH, and XRP on Monday and Tuesday indicated that real spot demand remained weak.
“Bitcoin’s apparent demand growth has been in decline since its acceleration in November–December 2024, following the U.S. election results,” analysts stated. “For the first time since September 2024, demand has entered contraction territory. Without renewed demand, sustaining a crypto rally will remain difficult.”
The apparent demand metric tracks Bitcoin’s supply dynamics by measuring the balance between newly mined coins and the movement of long-inactive coins. As previously reported by CoinDesk, retail accumulation has been on a downward trend since early November.
