Reports claiming Binance had stopped all withdrawals, including XRP, spread quickly across crypto social media this week. But a closer look shows the story is not what it seems.
Binance has not halted all withdrawals. Instead, the exchange faced minor pauses on select assets, largely tied to a broader security scare. Platform activity otherwise continues as normal, and experts say the viral claims exaggerate the situation.
The backdrop to these rumors is a major supply chain attack affecting NPM, a widely used JavaScript package manager. A compromised developer account pushed malicious code that has been downloaded more than one billion times. The malware silently swaps crypto addresses in transactions, putting funds at risk for users who do not carefully check wallet activity.
While Binance itself is not directly impacted, XRP holders expressed alarm. Some pointed to sharp price drops and thinning liquidity, warning of possible price manipulation. A widely circulated thread on X accused Binance of targeting XRP specifically because of its unique position in the market.
At the same time, large outflows of XRP from centralized exchanges have been recorded. Analysts say this may not be panic selling, but rather ETF issuers quietly securing supply ahead of possible U.S. regulatory approvals. Zach Rector said that Ripple is restricted from direct institutional sales due to the SEC case, meaning ETF issuers must source XRP from exchanges or OTC desks.
“We are currently seeing XRP leave exchanges rapidly! We already know many of us are pulling XRP from exchanges to self custody. However, I speculate some of these outflows could also be ETF issuers securing their supply of XRP before the big Go Live moment next month,” Zach said.
For now, Binance remains operational and XRP withdrawals are live. The bigger story may be the NPM hack, which shows ongoing vulnerabilities in the crypto ecosystem’s technical backbone. Security experts recommend hardware wallets and heightened vigilance.
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