[DigitalToday reporter Yunseo Lee] XRP reserves showed diverging trends at Binance and South Korean exchanges.

On Oct. 13 (local time), blockchain media outlet The Crypto Basic reported that XRP reserves at the global cryptocurrency exchange Binance have recently declined. By contrast, reserves at South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb increased, showing differences in holdings by exchange.

Multi-exchange daily reserve indicators show Binance’s XRP holdings fell by 101 million tokens in 16 days, to 2.604 billion on Oct. 13 from 2.705 billion on Sept. 27. Upbit’s holdings rose by 60 million to 6.45 billion on Oct. 13 from 6.39 billion on Sept. 23. Bithumb’s holdings also increased by about 30 million, to about 1.84 billion from about 1.81 billion.

The combined increase in XRP holdings at Upbit and Bithumb was about 90 million. As of Oct. 13, the two exchanges held a total of 8.29 billion tokens, accounting for about 76 percent of total XRP reserves tracked across the three exchanges. The tally showed the two South Korean exchanges held more XRP than Binance.

Deposit and withdrawal transaction indicators showed a rising share for withdrawals. Binance’s daily share of withdrawal transactions rose to 54 percent on Oct. 12 from 52 percent on Aug. 26. For centralized exchanges overall, it increased to 52.7 percent from 51 percent over the same period. That means withdrawals accounted for a larger share of XRP deposit and withdrawal activity by number of transactions.

Over the same period, the share of deposit transactions fell. Binance’s deposit share dropped to 45.9 percent from 47.7 percent, and for centralized exchanges overall it fell to about 47 percent from 48 percent. With withdrawals remaining higher than deposits, the gap between the two widened compared with before.

Still, it is difficult to conclude from reserve changes and deposit and withdrawal indicators alone that XRP leaving Binance moved directly to South Korean exchanges. In particular, the deposit and withdrawal shares are calculated based on the number of transactions and do not show the actual volume of XRP that moved. That is why a higher withdrawal share does not necessarily mean withdrawals exceeded deposits in token terms.

There are also limits to reading investors’ intentions from changes in exchange holdings alone. Some XRP withdrawn from Binance may have been moved to personal wallets for long-term storage. It may also have been moved for trading purposes or transferred to other exchanges. Reserve indicators show changes in amounts held on exchanges, but they do not explain why holders moved tokens or how they plan to use them.

The key point in the data is that Binance’s XRP balance fell while balances at South Korean exchanges rose. A decline in reserves is difficult to interpret immediately as selling, and a rise in reserves cannot be concluded as accumulation for long-term holding. Holdings clearly moved in different directions by exchange, but linking this to investor sentiment or future price moves would require additional review of actual transfer routes and transaction volumes.