Major Cryptocurrencies See Significant Drop in Selling Pressure, USDT Reserves Soar

Main Points:

• Exchange Inflows Plummet Across Major Tokens: Ethereum, XRP, and Bitcoin show multi-month lows in daily exchange deposits, indicating subdued sell-side activity.
• Ethereum Accumulation Accelerates: Over one million ETH withdrawn from centralized exchanges in May, with whale wallets recording record single-day inflows.
• XRP Sentiment Improves Post-Settlement: Following Ripple’s $50 million SEC settlement, XRP exchange inflows have collapsed by over 99%.
• Bitcoin Holding Near ATH with Limited Selling: BTC exchange inflows are down over 80% since November, even as price breaches previous all-time highs.
• Stablecoin Liquidity at Record Levels: Exchange USDT reserves climb to $46.9 billion, underpinning broader market liquidity and potential upside.
• Broader Implications: Lower selling pressure and abundant stablecoin liquidity set the stage for renewed bullish momentum and heightened on-chain activity.

1. Exchange Inflows Plummet Across Major Tokens

Recent on-chain data from CryptoQuant reveals a pronounced decline in the volume of major cryptocurrencies flowing into centralized exchanges—a key proxy for investor sell-side pressure. Exchange inflows represent the amount of asset deposits made by users into custodial platforms, often preceding sell orders. When inflows fall, it suggests holders are less inclined to cash out, a bullish indicator for price stability and potential upside.

• Ethereum’s seven-day moving average of daily exchange inflows has collapsed to roughly 100,000 ETH, down nearly 70 percent from the 320,000 ETH peak recorded last November.
• XRP deposit volume has plunged from 4 billion XRP per day in late March to just 46 million XRP, marking a 98.8 percent decline in six weeks.
• Bitcoin inflows are similarly muted, at approximately 22,000 BTC per day—an 82 percent drop versus the 121,000 BTC highs observed in November.

This across-the-board ebb in exchange flows underscores a market environment where investors prefer to HODL or reallocate rather than sell, laying a technical foundation for potential rallies if buy-side demand intensifies.

2. Ethereum Accumulation Accelerates

Ethereum (ETH) stands out as perhaps the strongest accumulation story. According to BeInCrypto’s aggregation of CryptoQuant data, over one million ETH has been withdrawn from centralized exchanges in the past month, accounting for roughly 5.5 percent of total exchange balances. Whale wallets alone recorded an unprecedented 325,000 ETH single-day accumulation on May 12, 2025—the highest on record.

Further, CryptoQuant’s ETH exchange inflow ratio—the share of ETH inflowing versus outflowing—has dropped to its lowest level since 2020, signaling dramatically lower sell-side intent relative to historical norms. This confluence of large-scale withdrawals and minimal new deposits points to:

1. Institutional and Retail Confidence: Buyers are moving ETH into cold storage or custody for longer-term holds.
2. Supply Compression: Reduced exchange reserves can tighten available supply, introducing upward price pressure.
3. Anticipation of Network Upgrades: Market participants appear positioning ahead of protocol enhancements, such as upcoming scaling or staking improvements.

These dynamics suggest Ethereum could be poised to outpace Bitcoin and other assets in a potential next leg of the bull market, especially if capital inflows into ETH-based ETFs continue to climb.

3. XRP Sentiment Improves Post-Settlement

XRP has enjoyed a marked shift in market psychology following Ripple Labs’ recent $50 million settlement agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The formal joint request to dissolve the injunction against Ripple’s institutional sales has brightened investor outlook, and the impact on on-chain behavior is clear:

• Daily XRP exchange inflows have collapsed from 40 billion XRP in late March to approximately 46 million XRP—a 99.5 percent drop in just eight weeks.
• Deposit counts have similarly contracted from 2.1 million individual transfers in December to fewer than 9,000 per day.

With legal uncertainty abating, holders are less anxious to offload positions on exchanges. This improvement in sentiment is further supported by spikes in long-position liquidations and renewed interest in XRP derivatives, though inflows remain exceptionally low—pointing to a prevailing HODL mentality among remaining holders.

4. Bitcoin Holding Near ATH with Limited Selling

Bitcoin’s trajectory offers a textbook example of reduced selling pressure amid historically high valuations. As of May 22, BTC has printed new all-time highs above $110,000, yet exchange inflows are near multi-year lows:

• Daily BTC inflows average around 22,000 BTC, versus 121,000 BTC at the peak of last November’s $100,000 milestone—a drop exceeding 80 percent.
• Active deposit events have halved from 98,000 daily transactions in November to about 29,000 currently.

This combination of record prices and low exchange deposits implies that holders are unwilling to crystallize gains. Coupled with ongoing ETF inflows—U.S. Bitcoin products alone saw over $600 million net inflows last week—Bitcoin’s supply-side rigidity may underpin further price advances.

5. Stablecoin Liquidity at Record Levels

On the stablecoin front, Tether’s USDT reserves on centralized exchanges have surged to an all-time high of $46.9 billion, according to CryptoQuant’s latest aggregated data. This expansion in stablecoin balances is significant for two reasons:

1. Enhanced Market Liquidity: Higher USDT availability on exchanges lowers funding friction and enables participants to deploy capital swiftly into crypto assets.
2. Bullish Precursor: Historically, spikes in exchange stablecoin reserves have preceded major crypto market advances, as buyers are effectively stockpiling dry powder.

Moreover, Tether’s continuous minting activity—$1 billion issued on TRON in mid-May—demonstrates robust demand for stablecoins, further bolstering the liquidity backdrop.

6. Broader Implications and Emerging Trends

The confluence of subdued sell-side pressure and plentiful stablecoin liquidity establishes a constructive technical setup across the crypto market. Key emerging trends include:

• Altcoin Season Signals: As ETH and other emerging tokens display stronger on-chain accumulation metrics than BTC, capital may rotate into high-beta alts, triggering broad market rallies.
• Institutional Adoption Momentum: ETF inflows and large-scale custodial withdrawals point to growing institutional conviction, potentially bringing deeper liquidity and reduced volatility over time.
• DeFi and L2 Growth: With ETH reserves tightening, Layer 2 solutions and DeFi protocols may attract more capital seeking yield and scalability, fostering ecosystem expansion.
• Regulatory Clarity Benefits: The XRP settlement underscores how legal clarity can swiftly shift market sentiment and on-chain behavior—a pattern likely to reoccur in other regulatory hotspots.

Conclusion

Across Ethereum, XRP, and Bitcoin, on-chain metrics paint a cohesive picture: selling pressure has contracted sharply, while deep pools of stablecoins stand ready to fuel the next upswing. Ethereum’s record withdrawals and lowest-ever inflow ratios hint at accumulation cycles forming beneath the surface. XRP’s settlement-driven sentiment shift has nearly halted deposit flows, and Bitcoin’s new price highs occur with minimal exchange sell-side activity. As market participants—both retail and institutional—navigate this landscape, the technical conditions appear ripe for renewed bullish momentum, potentially heralding the next major phase of the crypto cycle.