Analyst Says XRP Supply Shrinking, Predicts Next Big Move is ‘Only a Matter of Time’

Crypto analyst Steph points out that the total XRP supply is shrinking significantly while demand for the token remains high. Steph cited data from the analytics platform CryptoQuant. The chart he shared depicted that XRP's maximum supply of 100 billion is seeing a sharp decrease in recent years. In contrast to the decline in available supply, the price of XRP has been on a strong upward trajectory. Accordingly, Steph suggested that demand for XRP is rising sharply. He asserted that the next price movement of XRP could be explosive and that it is only a matter of time before such an explosion occurs. Notably, XRP has been in a bearish trend over the past three weeks, and this analyst used the token's decreasing supply as a basis to argue for a major bull rally. Is XRP Supply Really Shrinking? However, it is important to note that while the shared chart depicted a strong declining pattern in XRP's total supply, the actual figures tell a slightly different story. In particular, out of XRP's 100 billion supply, only 13,275,691 XRP, or 13.27 million tokens, have been destroyed and permanently removed from circulation. As a result, XRP's total supply still stands at a staggering 99.986 billion tokens.

This substantial volume contradicts the narrative that the supply is rapidly shrinking, casting doubt on the expectation of an imminent major price surge based solely on supply constraints. XRP Supply on Exchanges Compared to Other Tokens Moreover, the reserve of XRP on centralized exchanges has largely remained the same throughout 2024, with no steep decline as observable with other crypto assets. Notably, the supply of XRP on the largest crypto exchange, Binance, decreased in November from 3.14 billion to 2.79 billion on December 16. Yet, it is growing quickly again toward the 3 billion mark. Besides, the current figure mirrors the volume that has been on Binance for most of 2024.

On the other hand, crypto assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Shiba Inu are experiencing a sharp decline in available supplies on exchanges. For instance, 167.34 trillion SHIB tokens were on exchanges last December, but the current figure is now 134.4 trillion. Similarly, Ethereum's supply on exchanges, which was at 20.66 million a year ago, dropped to 18.6 million in September. While it is now back at 19 million, the overall trend shows a steep decline. Likewise, Bitcoin, which started the year with 3.07 million BTC tokens on exchanges, has seen this number drop to 2.42 million.

Meanwhile, regardless of XRP's supply data, analysts remain bold with XRP price predictions. Some argue that the current supply is inconsequential in the broader scheme.