XRP Defies South Korean Inflows Amid Global Outflows

XRP continues to draw interest from South Korean investors, yet the overall global market dynamics are preventing a significant rally for the digital asset.

Despite notable trading activity on South Korea’s Upbit exchange, XRP has not seen the substantial jump in value that many anticipated. prominent figures in the XRP community, particularly market analyst and game developer Chad Steingraber, have been closely analyzing this trend over recent days.

According to reports, Upbit recorded an extraordinary spike on July 7, where XRP saw $1.94 billion in trading volume in just an hour. This figure drastically surpasses the usual hourly range of $5 million to $15 million on major platforms like Binance, highlighting just how remarkable the South Korean activity is.

Furthermore, on the same day, Steingraber pointed out a massive net deposit of $1.58 billion in XRP on Upbit during a single hour—an increase of over 52,000% compared to typical netflows seen on crypto exchanges.

That momentum has not slowed. Real-time figures show Upbit remains the hub of XRP’s trading action, with $94.88 million in trading volume and $43.25 million in net inflows recorded within a recent one-hour window.

However, these bullish inflows aren’t translating into similarly explosive growth in value. In fact, the current XRP price movement has been underwhelming, especially considering the magnitude of activity on Upbit.

Steingraber offers a critical viewpoint on this phenomenon: While Upbit is driving massive buy-side interest, equivalent or greater selling pressure from global exchanges is effectively nullifying these gains. Major trading platforms like Binance, Coinbase, and Bybit have been witnessing consistent XRP outflows, counteracting the Upbit influx.

Data highlights from Steingraber showed that at one point, global netflows stood at -$8.82 million, suggesting more XRP was being withdrawn from exchanges than deposited, despite South Korea’s apparent hunger for the token.

Additional metrics from Coinglass provided further insight into recent trends. While July 9 brought a modest global netflow increase of $3.2 million, earlier in the month on July 7 and 8 the numbers were starkly negative, at -$43.19 million and -$8.68 million, respectively.

These persistent outflows from non-Korean exchanges offer an explanation as to why XRP hasn’t launched into a stronger uptrend. As Steingraber emphasizes, this global net drain depresses price momentum, despite localized gains.

That said, XRP has still recorded respectable growth in recent days. Over the past week, the coin has appreciated by more than 6%, currently hovering around the $2.33 price level. Yet many analysts and traders argue that, given the extraordinary inflows seen on Upbit, XRP should be rallying much more aggressively.

It’s also worth noting an important nuance in interpreting these numbers: the deposit activity on Upbit reflects internal fund transfers to the exchange. These actions don’t necessarily represent active market orders or real capital inflow into XRP, and hence, don’t always trigger upward price movement.

Related: XRP Price: $12M Max Pain for Bears

As things stand, the XRP market remains at the mercy of broader supply-demand dynamics. Until global outflows recede or new buy volume arrives from other regions, the digital asset may continue to experience this tug-of-war effect that anchors its price despite regional surges.