Evidence suggesting a change in investor behavior continues to grow as XRP and a handful of other projects see serious declines in crypto wallet addresses over the past 4 weeks.
XRP Investors Hodling or Losing Interest?
Analyst CryptoRand has posted a chart showing the number of dynamic addresses has decreased among many major platforms over the past month. According to Crypto Differ figures, XRP is by far the worst affected.
Interesting decrease on $XRP dynamic addresses.
Giving up or holding for Lambo? pic.twitter.com/SsjcoXYbMa
— Crypto Rand (@crypto_rand) March 31, 2020
As noted in the Tweet, XRP dynamic addresses have allegedly fallen by 29,208 over the last month. This puts the project behind other less prominent competitors such as Bitcoin SV (BSV), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Decred (DCR). However, this number may not be entirely accurate, as it is compared against February which saw several major temporary spikes. This three month chart of XRP addresses from Coin Metrics perhaps offers a little more clarity.
Thus, when looking at a longer time frame, the number of XRP addresses has remained relatively stable, although it’s still far lower than other projects in the top 10.
A key takeaway from the overall data is the fact that investors are moving their coins from exchanges into personal wallets. There can be no question that interest in long-term cold storage is growing as the global economy declines. This fact further reinforces the argument that the public views cryptocurrency as a legitimate financial safe haven.
This collective move will likely put upward pressure on price, as the supply of coins for trading declines. It could also prompt more use of Bitcoin and other blockchain assets for real world purchases. As the market recovers the number of dynamic addresses across the crypto space will once again move up.
This chart clearly shows Bitcoin’s hegemony in the blockchain space, as its number of active addresses dwarfs all others. Its number has however, also marginally declined over the past few weeks.
ADDRESS ANOMALIES DEMONSTRATE NETWORK GROWTH
As shown in the chart, some crypto platforms have seen a spike in dynamic addresses. Most notably, Ethereum saw a twenty-two percent increase. This fact reflects the growing use of the Ethereum blockchain, most notably in decentralized finance (DeFi). In fact, DeFi has come to dominate the Ethereum network over the past few weeks.
Stellar Lumens has also seen a major spike in network usage over the past few weeks, reflected by the large number of new addresses.
The eventual mass adoption of cryptocurrency will see value increasingly reflected by network usage. In other words, all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin included, must prove their utility in order to survive long-term. The examination of alternate data can thus give a good insight into overall platform potential.
Do you think XRP’s drop in active addresses is a sign of hodling or lack of interest? Add your thoughts below!
Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @crypto_rand, Chart by CoinMetrics