- Dormant XRP wallets tied to Larsen moved $109M, raising control speculation.
- XRP surged 18% after Trump’s crypto reserve plan and sudden wallet activity.
- Hackers exploited LastPass breach, stealing $150M XRP from Larsen’s holdings.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has found himself at the center of a significant financial event. U.S. law enforcement released documents on March 7, showing that Larsen lost approximately $150 million in XRP value in January 2024.
The alleged theft happened from a compromised private key kept in the password manager LastPass, which suffered a major data breach in 2022.
The breach gave hackers access to encrypted digital assets, resulting in the massive loss. But, the incident took a strange turn when previously dormant XRP wallets linked to Larsen suddenly became active, which made people wonder what was going on.
Dormant XRP Wallets “Wake Up”
On March 3, blockchain investigator ZachXBT discovered XRP wallets connected to Larsen holding over 2.7 billion XRP, estimated at approximately $7.18 billion. These wallets had remained inactive for years, with some showing no movement for six to seven years.
Start of January 2025, saw these wallets making large transactions. The timing of these movements has caused concerns about who owns and controls these holdings.
Related: Ripple Pledges $50 Million to Launch National Cryptocurrency Education Association in United States
Sudden Transfers of Millions in XRP
After the previously dormant wallets became active, transactions started happening fast. More than $109 million worth of XRP was transferred to major exchanges, such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Bybit. This unexpected movement led to discussions within the cryptocurrency community.
Some think Larsen may have just recently gotten back into the wallets, while others suggest these assets could have changed owners a long time ago, possibly back in 2013. The real owner of the wallets is still unknown, and people are still guessing.
Wallet Mystery Sparks XRP Jump
The timing of these wallet activations happened at the same time as a major policy announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump. He had proposed creating a digital asset stockpile, which would include XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano.
Right after this announcement, XRP experienced a significant price surge. The value jumped from $2.23 to a peak of $2.93 as of press time trading at $2.42 .
This price movement got even more attention from investors, who wondered if the wallet transfers had something to do with the market upswing.
Past XRP Moves Fuel Speculation
Larsen has made notable XRP transactions in the past. Back in September 2020, he moved approximately 500 million XRP, then worth $115 million, to an undisclosed address. He later said that the transfer was for security reasons, specifically to NYDIG .
Related: Ripple CTO David Schwartz Confirms XRP Sales Are Necessary to Fund Operations, Prioritizing Company Interests
Still, many in the cryptocurrency community questioned whether other motives were at play. Even though no real evidence came out to support these claims, the new activity has brought back discussions about past transfers and their potential meaning.
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