I just noticed something interesting on the data chain — XRP whales have accumulated a huge amount of tokens, reaching the highest level in years. The data shows that major holders, who possess millions of tokens, are significantly increasing their holdings. The strange thing is that the number of addresses is decreasing, but the total amount is increasing — meaning the concentration is rising among the larger whales. This could be a sign of strong confidence from the big players in the market, especially with the current price pressure. If the whales are buying aggressively, it might be a sign of upcoming stability or a stronger price floor. At least the message is clear — smart money is moving into XRP.

I noticed something interesting in the weekly flow data - XRP has returned to positive flows after three consecutive weeks of withdrawals. About $2.91 million came in last week, reflecting a clear shift in investor sentiment toward the asset. What’s really worth noting is that XRP outperformed Ethereum in weekly flows. While Ethereum experienced outflows of $27.5 million this week, investor demand for XRP was very strong. Bitcoin remained dominant with $219 million out of a total of $230 million, but the movement between XRP and Ethereum tells us a lot about the reallocation of capital. The broader scene is completely different from January. Total flows sharply declined from the peak of $2.17 billion. The reason is clear - Federal Reserve policies are making investors cautious. Interest rates are steady, inflation is higher than expected, and the number of expected rate cuts is lower. This is pushing everyone toward risk aversion. But XRP shows resilience. The price is now $1.44, up 1.41% in 24 hours, even though it’s down 0.07% over the week. Support comes from retail investors and real use on the XRP Ledger network. Institutions remain cautious, but individuals are moving. The positive side is that all major regions recorded net inflows - the US with $153 million, Germany with $30.2 million, Switzerland with $27.5 million. Investors have not exited the market, but they are becoming very selective. Ethereum is facing pressure now, but this could be an opportunity if macro conditions improve. Everything depends on what the Federal Reserve does next.

Ripple's CTO, David Schwartz, has taken action again. He publicly disputes the criticism that the XRP Ledger is a centralized network controlled by corporations. The origin of this was a claim by Justin Bons, founder of Cyber Capital. He pointed out that several blockchains, including XRPL, are effectively under Ripple's direct control, warning users to be cautious. He especially focused on the UNL (Unique Node List) mechanism, arguing that it gives Ripple "absolute power and control." Schwartz's rebuttal is interesting. He dismissed this claim as "objectively absurd," using an analogy that even if Bitcoin miners hold over half the hash power, they can't arbitrarily issue tens of billions of BTC. In other words, influence does not equate to control. He emphasized that XRPL operates with a decentralized validator and consensus mechanism, not under the unilateral authority of a single company. Bons further claimed that XRPL and Bitcoin share similar vulnerabilities. He pointed out the possibility that multiple validators could collude to censor transactions or perform double-spending. Schwartz made an important point here: XRPL nodes independently verify transactions, and unless explicitly configured otherwise, they do not accept censorship or double-spending. Even if a collusion attack occurs, the worst-case scenario is temporary network downtime, not the approval of fraudulent transactions. There are also operational differences. Miners and validators on Bitcoin and Ethereum frequently reconfigure, delay, or prioritize transactions, but such malicious censorship or reordering has not been observed on XRPL. Schwartz stated, "This has never happened with XRPL transactions." This debate is not new. Schwartz has received similar points from Katie Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, which at that time showed XRPL operated with over 1,000 independent nodes. Market data on Ripple's large XRP holdings also supports this. Past escrow releases have not caused sustained declines, and XRP's price trends tend to follow the broader crypto market. Personally, the clear takeaway from this TLDR is that discussions about centralization should be based on numbers and concrete examples, not just theoretical possibilities. The difference in implementation and operation is crucial. While you can find XRPL-related assets on exchanges, it’s wise to understand these technical backgrounds before making judgments.