- Chris Larsen appears to be selling XRP.
- He's moved $344 million worth since the start of the year.
- It comes as XRP closes in on all-time highs.
A crypto wallet belonging to Chris Larsen, one of Ripple’s co-founders, sent $26 million worth of XRP to Coinbase on Tuesday as the asset soared to its highest price in more than seven months.
It’s not clear if Larsen sold the XRP. Yet there’s little other reason to send funds to centralised exchanges like Coinbase.
It follows dozens of transactions from the same wallet, which has sent a total of 106 million XRP currently worth $344 million to centralised exchanges and auxiliary wallets since the start of the year.
The moves come as XRP soars following a broad crypto rally punctuated by Bitcoin hitting an all-time high of $122,838 on July 14.
XRP is among the top gaining crypto assets over the past week, jumping 32% to $3.25.
The asset is now just 3.8% away from surpassing its all-time high price of $3.40 set in January 2018.
Who is Chris Larsen?
Larsen is an American business executive and angel investor who co-founded Ripple, the company behind the XRP blockchain, in 2013. Ripple was set up to enable blockchain-supported cross-border payments.
Larsen stepped down as Ripple CEO in December 2016 but remains executive chairman of the firm.
Crypto wallets created by Larsen and attributed to him on XRPscan hold some 2.6 billion XRP with a market value of $8.3 billion.
Larsen has previously used his vast wealth to back political causes.
In October 2024, he donated $1 million worth of XRP to a super PAC that supported Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Larsen has also donated to several other Democratic politicians.
Forbes estimates Larsen’s net worth is $9.7 billion, up from $3.2 billion last year.
Ripple’s success
Ripple’s recent business moves, coupled with increased investor interest, have helped drive up the price of XRP — and Larsen’s net worth.
Earlier this week, XRP overtook Tether’s USDT stablecoin, becoming the third biggest crypto asset behind Bitcoin and Ethereum.
At the start of July, Ripple, along with USDC issuer Circle, applied for US National Trust Bank charters, a rare move that if approved would bring them under federal oversight, and closer to the heart of the US financial system.
In June, Webus International, a Chinese firm listed on the Nasdaq, said it plans to build a $300 million XRP treasury, according to a filing with US regulators.
Later that month, Ripple chose to drop an appeal in the firm’s legal battle with the Securities and Exchange commission over XRP’s alleged status as a security.
Analysts said at the time the move should clear the way for the approval of an XRP exchange-traded fund.
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
