XRP Price Grinds to a Halt as South Korea’s Upbit Hits Record Inflows—What’s Next?

XRP's momentum slams into a wall just as Upbit—South Korea's crypto heavyweight—reports unprecedented inflows. Is this a temporary roadblock or the calm before the next storm?

Market watchers are scrambling to decode the anomaly. While most altcoins ride the bullish wave, XRP's price action flatlines despite Upbit's liquidity surge. The disconnect screams 'opportunity' for some—'red flag' for others.

Behind the scenes: Whale wallets are moving, but not in the expected direction. Retail traders keep piling in, oblivious to the institutional chess game unfolding. Classic crypto.

One thing's certain—when Korean exchanges sneeze, the global market catches cold. And right now? Upbit's trading volume could power a small nation. Whether that translates to XRP's revival or just another 'buy the rumor, sell the news' farce remains to be seen. Place your bets—the house always wins.

TLDR

• XRP price has not surged despite massive trading volume on South Korea’s Upbit exchange.
• Upbit recorded $1.94 billion in XRP trading volume in just one hour on July 7.
• Net inflows on Upbit reached $1.58 billion during the same hour, indicating high market activity.
• Global exchanges like Binance and Coinbase have reported continuous XRP outflows over recent days.
• Chad Steingraber believes these global outflows are neutralizing the impact of Korean inflows on XRP price.

Despite record-breaking trading activity in South Korea, xrp price has shown minimal response on the global charts this week. The primary exchange driving this activity, Upbit, reported billions in trading volume within short timeframes. Yet, global market movements are dampening the potential price impact.

XRP Price Stalls Despite Upbit Surge

Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, recorded a $1.94 billion XRP trading volume in one hour on July 7. This spike dwarfs the average hourly XRP volume across exchanges like Binance, which ranges between $5 million and $15 million. Concurrently, Upbit noted net inflows of $1.58 billion, a significant deviation from usual figures.

The increase in volume has continued, with Upbit recently seeing $94.88 million in one hour alongside $43.25 million in net inflows. While this may suggest buying pressure, the XRP price has not shown any major breakout. This contradiction has drawn attention across the market, especially among community analysts.

Game developer and market commentator Chad Steingraber has closely tracked these flows and offered insights into their market impact. He emphasized that global outflows are counterbalancing Korean inflows. This ongoing imbalance limits the potential XRP price surge many expected from such localized demand.

Global Exchange Outflows Weigh Down Upbit’s Influence

CoinGlass data revealed that other leading exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Coinbase saw significant XRP outflows recently. On July 7 alone, global netflows reached a negative $43.19 million, despite Upbit’s inflows. Even on July 8, the global XRP netflow remained negative at -$8.68 million.

Although the market recorded a positive netflow of $3.2 million the following day, it lacked enough strength to shift XRP price significantly. These opposing flows have negated the upward momentum initiated by Korean trading activity. As a result, the global market has maintained a neutral stance.

Steingraber attributed XRP’s stagnant price to this ongoing battle between localized inflows and broader outflows. The data suggests that while interest remains strong in South Korea, other regions are seeing continued sell-offs. These factors are preventing XRP price from capitalizing on regional volume surges.

The reason the price of XRP right now is not being affected is because it's Korea vs. the World right now.

Upbit is carrying the price at current levels because the rest of the global exchanges are NET OUTFLOWS. Which is in total -$8.82Million globally. https://t.co/wOPhYS18tB pic.twitter.com/BmDF3w43Fb

— Chad Steingraber (@ChadSteingraber) July 8, 2025

Deposits May Not Reflect Real-Time Buying Activity

While deposits to Upbit are substantial, they do not confirm immediate buying or selling of XRP. Many inflows may represent dormant capital or internal transfers. Therefore, inflows alone cannot dictate short-term price trends with full accuracy.

This disconnect between exchange activity and XRP price performance is not uncommon in high-volume scenarios. Without matching buy pressure globally, even large inflows fail to impact the price meaningfully. The lack of immediate demand across multiple markets weakens price momentum.

Although XRP price increased by over 6% this week, it remains moderate compared to the volume seen on Korean exchanges. With netflows shifting daily, global sentiment continues to shape the asset’s price path. Steingraber maintains that synchronized global participation is necessary for stronger XRP price movement.