An unidentified XRP whale has transferred 40 million XRP tokens worth over $29 million from a previously dormant address to the Luxembourg-based crypto exchange Bitstamp.
The transaction, which was tracked by Whale Alert on Nov 24, has generated a great deal of speculation regarding its origin.
Speculation Over XRP Transaction Origin
According to Whale Alert, the transfer originated from an address that had laid dormant for around seven years.
Whale Alert claims that the address is linked to the genesis block of the XRP blockchain.
The sending address for this transaction has been dormant since 2013 until 2 days ago and is connected to one of the genesis addresses.— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) November 24, 2020
A genesis block is the first-ever block mined on a blockchain, which then becomes the basis of the distributed ledger system. In the case of Bitcoin, the genesis block was mined by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
This has led to speculation that the unnamed whale involved in the 40 million XRP transfer is likewise a founder of Ripple. This, however, is impossible to establish conclusively as in theory, because a genesis block can be mined by any node on the blockchain network.
Possible Theories
On Nov. 23, BeInCrypto reported that XRP has outperformed even Bitcoin and Ethereum significantly over the past seven days, gaining an incredible 150 percent from $0.27 to $0.68 as of Nov 24.
Bitcoin, by comparison, has risen 18.3 percent from $16,125 to just over $19,000 over the same period.
Some speculate that the transfer is a Ripple founder effectively dumping XRP on the market after taking advantage of the crypto market bull run. The upcoming Spark token airdrop to XRP holders, which has also boosted investor interest, may also be playing a part.
Others, however, point out that the group of addresses linked to the genesis block has been sending funds to Bitstamp for at least three years.
The impending airdrop of Spark tokens is credited with driving the XRP frenzy to heights not seen since March 2018.
This airdrop of 45 billion Spark tokens will give XRP users a 1:1 ratio, which provides an incentive to hold as much as possible.
Also fuelling the speculation is the fact that the airdrop is supported by RippleX and that Bitstamp has announced that it will support the Spark token airdrop.
