XRP Holders Are Sitting on the Largest Unrealized Losses in the Asset’s History
Glassnode data shows 36.8 billion XRP tokens are currently underwater, a figure that has never appeared on this chart before.
What the Data Actually Shows
The Glassnode total supply in loss metric tracks how many tokens are held at a cost basis above the current price. As of March 9, 36.8 billion XRP tokens qualify, carrying combined unrealized losses of $50.8 billion. The chart runs from December 2019 through early 2026. The current reading sits at the highest point on the entire six-year dataset. This is not a bad week for XRP holders. It is the worst aggregate loss position the asset has ever recorded.
The mechanism behind the number is straightforward. XRP spiked toward $3 during the late 2024 and early 2025 rally, pulling a massive wave of new buyers into the asset at elevated prices. Those buyers are now holding tokens worth considerably less than they paid. XRP trades around $1.34 today, roughly 55% below the peak of approximately $3 reached in late 2024. Anyone who bought during that rally and has not sold is sitting in the loss column.
Why the Chart Shape Matters
Prior peaks in supply in loss appeared in mid-2021, when XRP briefly spiked above $1.50 before collapsing, and again in late 2021 through 2022 during the broader crypto bear market. Both of those readings reached approximately 35 to 40 billion tokens in loss. The current reading has already exceeded those levels and continues climbing as the price fails to recover.
The difference between now and those prior peaks is the price level at which buyers entered. The 2024 to 2025 rally attracted buyers at $2, $2.50, and $3 who did not exist during earlier cycles. Those cost bases are higher than any previous cohort of XRP holders. Recovering to profitability for that group requires XRP to return to levels it has only briefly touched once in its entire history.
That is not impossible. It is a specific and demanding condition.
What History Says About These Readings
Extreme supply in loss readings have historically appeared near capitulation points rather than at the beginning of extended declines. The logic is the same as the altcoins near ATL indicator covered earlier this week: when most holders are already underwater, the marginal seller has fewer tokens left to sell. Exhaustion precedes recovery more often than it precedes further collapse.
Both datasets are pointing in the same direction this week. Nearly 38% of altcoins sit near all-time lows. XRP’s supply in loss has reached a six-year record. Two separate on-chain metrics from two separate data providers are describing the same condition across different assets simultaneously.
That convergence is worth noting. It does not resolve the central question, which is whether exhaustion at this level means the selling is nearly done or whether it reflects a structural repricing that has further to run. XRP at $1.34 is still up significantly from its pre-2024 range below $0.70. There is room for further decline before reaching levels that would represent a full round-trip of the rally.
The chart shows the largest unrealized loss pool in XRP’s history. What it cannot show is whether that pool shrinks because the price recovers or because the holders finally give up and sell.
The post XRP Holders Are Sitting on the Largest Unrealized Losses in the Asset’s History appeared first on ETHNews.
You May Also Like
US Treasury Turns to AI to Combat Crypto Fraud After $9B in Losses
‘Great Progress’: Cardano Founder Shares Update After CLARITY Act Roundtable
Read the full article at coingape.com.
