XRP enters the elite game? Retail threshold increases by 200% in half a year, market centralization accelerates

According to the latest news, Edoardo Farina, founder of the cryptocurrency education organization Alpha Lions Academy, recently issued a warning: XRP may gradually evolve into an “asset affordable to only 1% of the population.” This is not alarmist talk but a market phenomenon supported by concrete data. Over the past six months, the capital threshold to enter the top 10% of XRP holders has doubled, while retail holdings have continuously shrunk, and institutional concentration has steadily increased.

Rising Thresholds, Shrinking Retail

The most direct change is reflected in the participation barriers. According to on-chain data, although the number of tokens required to enter the top 10% of XRP holders has decreased, the corresponding USD cost has risen sharply:

This reveals a paradox: although the number of tokens needed has increased, its proportion relative to the total circulating supply is actually decreasing. What is the real change? Prices are rising, but the number of participants able to join is decreasing.

Specific Manifestations of Centralization

Deeper issues lie in the extreme inequality of wealth distribution:

• The top 1% of XRP wallets hold about 74,000 wallets, each holding at least approximately 48,716 XRP, worth nearly $100,000
• About 6 million wallets (80% of total wallets) hold no more than 500 XRP, in very small positions
• Total wallets number approximately 7.47 million, but actual power is highly concentrated among the top holders

What does this mean? The vast majority of participants are essentially “playing around,” while real wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few large holders.

Institutional Deployment Further Reinforces Concentration

The XRP ETF launched in November 2025 has accumulated nearly 700 million XRP, with an asset scale of about $1.37 billion. This not only signifies large-scale institutional capital entry but also changes the market’s liquidity structure. When institutions lock in large amounts of tokens, the circulating supply in the market decreases, further pushing up prices and participation thresholds.

Economic Pressures Accelerate All This

Farina points out another key factor: the macroeconomic environment. High inflation, sluggish wage growth, and rising living costs are squeezing ordinary people’s disposable income. Global events since 2019 have further intensified this trend. The result? More retail investors are forced to sell crypto assets, including XRP, to cover basic living expenses.

This is not market choice but a passive exclusion driven by survival pressure.

Future Price and Market Structure

Based on the current market structure, Farina believes XRP’s price has the potential to be driven to higher levels. He even suggests long-term targets of $100 or even $1,000. While such predictions remain highly uncertain, the logic is clear: with liquidity tightening and retail participation declining, the remaining large holders and institutions can push prices with relatively small amounts of capital.

According to data, XRP is currently priced at $2.07, with a market cap of $12.582 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $235 million. In the short term, XRP shows relatively strong performance (up 10.69% over 7 days), but whether this upward trend can continue depends on whether market structure continues to evolve.

Summary

The trend of market centralization in XRP is real, supported by on-chain data and ETF holdings. The key change is not the price fluctuations themselves but the dramatic shift in the structure of market participants: retail investors are being squeezed out by economic pressures and high barriers, while control by institutions and large holders continues to rise.

This reflects a larger market phenomenon: cryptocurrencies, which initially aimed for “decentralized inclusiveness,” are gradually evolving into a “capital concentration” reality. For ordinary investors, the real takeaway may not be how high XRP can rise but whether their position in this market is changing. Future attention should be paid to whether this centralization trend will affect XRP’s long-term liquidity and price efficiency.