[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Asset manager Bitwise bought an additional $15.4 million worth of XRP.

U.Today, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Aug. 29 local time that Bitwise kept buying even as XRP recently turned weaker.

On-chain tracking platform Whale Insider said the purchase extended Bitwise’s streak of consecutive XRP buys. The large-scale buying drew market attention because it came as XRP gave back part of recent gains and turned weaker.

The backdrop is improved investor sentiment after a recent surge in XRP. In the spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) market, existing products recorded steady daily net inflows over the past 2 weeks, and institutional funds also continued into Bitwise’s XRP product. The market interpreted the additional purchase as a sign that institutional demand is holding up despite a short-term price pullback.

Institutional demand and the spot price moved in different directions. XRP stopped its recent rally and fell to around $1.37, down about 0.55 percent over the past 24 hours. Some in the market see profit-taking and speculative selling outweighing institutional buying, adding downward pressure on the price.

Large-scale buying through ETFs does not necessarily lead directly to a price rise. Even if institutional money flows in, the spot price can weaken in the short term if more selling emerges in the spot market. The move shows that ETF demand and the XRP price do not necessarily move in the same direction.

The monthly uptrend has not been broken. The recent rise has slowed, but XRP is still posting a high gain for the month. It remains to be seen whether further Bitwise buying and continued inflows into spot XRP ETFs can absorb spot-market selling, which is expected to shape the price trend.

Bitwise’s additional purchase shows institutional demand continues even during a period of XRP price adjustment. The spot price, however, stayed weak due to short-term speculative trading, highlighting a divergence between institutional fund flows and market prices.