Crypto Expert Disproves $100,000 XRP ‘Dark Pool’ Theory

A recent video from crypto analyst Zach Rector addresses a trending claim made by influencer Jake Clover, which suggests that XRP tokens are being exchanged for $100,000 each within secret “dark pools.” Rector’s response seeks to reassure newcomers who might be alarmed by these rumors and emphasizes the importance of focusing on verified market mechanisms instead of unfounded conspiracy theories.

XRP OTC Transactions Are Not Market Manipulation

Rector begins by labeling the theory as “a new round of misinformation and FUD,” insisting that “institutions are not going to acquire XRP at $100,000 on the private ledger. That is simply not going to happen.” He clarifies that what are now referred to as “dark pools” are actually over-the-counter (OTC) desks—private trading venues that significant stakeholders have utilized for many years across equities, foreign exchange, and more recently, digital currencies.

“This is not something new or exclusive to XRP,” he points out, mentioning that Ripple Labs has been gradually selling parts of its treasury through OTC since 2019 without negatively impacting the market price. Rector highlights that XRP has experienced significant growth since November, even as Ripple has been providing additional resources to institutional clients.

A considerable part of Clover’s claim is built upon the belief that an isolated version of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) holds a drastically higher price than the public market. Rector describes this assumption as a fundamental misunderstanding of how Ripple’s solutions function.

He acknowledges that central banks or governmental entities sometimes request “private ledgers for confidentiality in messaging and transactions,” but clarifies that these setups are typically permissioned sidechains or derivative wrappers. “XRP exclusively exists on the public XRP Ledger that is accessible to everyone […]. Your XRP can never leave the XRP Ledger,” he asserts. If experimenters wanted to simulate a six-figure price for testing scenarios, “that isn’t real XRP, and it never was nor will be.”

To further illustrate his point, Rector refers to Ripple’s chief technology officer, David Schwartz, who has already confirmed that “there are not two prices for XRP.” He also draws comparisons with other enterprise-focused blockchains—like XDC’s hybrid model and Constellation’s Department of Defense “Metagraph” initiative—to show that privacy measures are standard practices rather than indications of concealed liquidity at inflated prices.

OTC Purchasers Receive Discounts

While some retail investors worry that large financial firms might pay exorbitant prices privately, Rector presents an alternative view: “Why would an institution pay $10,000 per XRP on the private ledger […] when it’s available on the public market for $2?” OTC platforms are established specifically so that high-volume traders can accumulate assets without affecting the market, not to overpay.

Historically, Ripple has often provided institutional partners with discounts rather than surcharges, as demonstrated during the SEC versus Ripple legal proceedings. Rector reminds the audience that Ripple’s records consist of “over 1,700 NDAs” and highlights that R3 negotiated the opportunity to purchase five billion XRP “for a fraction of a penny” across three years but ultimately settled for just one billion when the broader agreement fell through. None of these figures come close to the six-figure exaggeration.

Currently, XRP is trading at $2.21.

Image generated by DALL.E, chart created from TradingView.com.