The variety of XRP holders has almost doubled between October 2024 and Might 2025, increasing from 1.29% to 2.42%, whereas Solana (SOL) skilled the alternative, falling 35% from 2.72% to 1.76%.
In keeping with Bybit’s “H1 2025 asset allocation report,” the rebalancing stems from a shift in sentiment as each retail and institutional traders have begun to favor XRP over Solana.
XRP has gained momentum in latest months as its years-long authorized battle with the SEC involves an in depth, 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 most important proportion of the interval, representing 5% of the full. In the identical month, the token touched $3.31, its highest value for the reason that 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% likelihood of approval by year-end 2025.
It added that the redirection of SOL publicity to XRP was not a transfer made solely by retail traders, as establishments additionally made the identical choice through the first half of the yr.
The research coated lively merchants between October 2024 and Might 2025. Energetic merchants have been those that executed no less than 20 transactions monthly.
Moreover, the report labeled contributors into institutional, VIP, and basic retail tiers to trace pockets habits throughout market segments.
Bitcoin and Ethereum nonetheless reign
Stablecoin allocations additionally declined in Might, as customers allotted recent capital to Bitcoin and Ethereum. But, XRP maintained its expanded share.
The report highlighted that Bitcoin managed almost 31% of belongings, 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 general ceded floor to Bitcoin. Altcoin share peaked at 35.22% in November 2024 earlier than easing to 23.46% in Might 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 Might.
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.
