The variety of XRP holders has practically doubled between October 2024 and Could 2025, increasing from 1.29% to 2.42%, whereas Solana (SOL) skilled the other, falling 35% from 2.72% to 1.76%.
In accordance with Bybit’s “H1 2025 asset allocation report,” the rebalancing stems from a shift in sentiment as each retail and institutional buyers have begun to favor XRP over Solana.
XRP has gained momentum in current months as its years-long authorized battle with the SEC involves a detailed, setting the stage for a possible spot exchange-traded fund tied to Ripple’s token.
The sentiment shift has propelled XRP to the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). It overtook Solana in November 2024.
In January, XRP allocations registered the biggest proportion of the interval, representing 5% of the overall. In the identical month, the token touched $3.31, its highest value because the all-time excessive registered on January 7, 2018.
ETF expectations drove the pivot
The report linked the allocation swing to exchange-traded fund (ETF) expectations, noting that Polymarket merchants assign a 90% chance of approval by year-end 2025.
It added that the redirection of SOL publicity to XRP was not a transfer made solely by retail buyers, as establishments additionally made the identical choice in the course of the first half of the yr.
The research lined energetic merchants between October 2024 and Could 2025. Energetic merchants have been those that executed at the least 20 transactions per 30 days.
Moreover, the report categorized contributors into institutional, VIP, and normal retail tiers to trace pockets habits throughout market segments.
Bitcoin and Ethereum nonetheless reign
Stablecoin allocations additionally declined in Could, as customers allotted recent capital to Bitcoin and Ethereum. But, XRP maintained its expanded share.
The report highlighted that Bitcoin managed practically 31% of property, whereas BTC and ETH mixed reached 58.8% of non-stablecoin holdings throughout the identical month.
XRP’s development, coupled with Solana’s retreat, caps a interval during which altcoins total ceded floor to Bitcoin. Altcoin share peaked at 35.22% in November 2024 earlier than easing to 23.46% in Could 2025, the identical month that Bitcoin registered its newest all-time excessive.
Lastly, merchants pulled stablecoin balances off the sidelines and redeployed them into BTC and ETH in Could.
Institutional accounts reduce their stablecoin share by 14% from April, steering roughly 6% every to Bitcoin and Ether and one level to Solana, with smaller flows rounding out the rest.
This motion reversed the defensive build-up that adopted earlier market dips.
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