Ripple, the US-based cross-border payments firm, follows a routine 1 billion XRP unlock program that takes place on the first day of every month. This initiative, introduced in December 2017, aims to provide stability to the XRP markets.
Ripple initially locked 55 billion XRP in an escrow system programmed on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). This system was designed to release 1 billion XRP each month over 55 months. However, Ripple adopts a conservative approach, often returning up to 800 million XRP from the 1 billion released.
The Escrow Releases
The most recent XRP escrow release took place on November 1, 2023. Ripple unlocked a total of 1 billion XRP from the escrow account in three separate transactions. These transactions were reported on X by Whale Alert (@whale_alert), the popular crypto whale tracking platform.
The first transaction saw 500 million XRP, valued at $299.9 million, released. This transfer was followed by another transaction of 400 million XRP, worth around $239.92 million. The final transaction involved the release of 100 million XRP, valued at $59.98 million. All transactions occurred on November 1, at 00:00 UTC.
While there’s often speculation surrounding these movements, it’s an established process aimed at supporting the XRP ecosystem’s stability and does not usually have any other motives attached.
Notably, Ripple transferred 50 million XRP, valued at $29.87 million, to an unknown wallet less than an hour before the escrow release. This transaction could be a transfer to an On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) partner, just like Ripple’s many transfers to Bitstamp that usually spark sell-off speculations.
800 Million XRP Back in Escrow
As is common practice, Ripple has returned 800 million XRP back to escrow. This release happened in two transactions. The first transfer of 400 million XRP, worth $238.37 million, occurred at 16:26 UTC. The second transfer occurred a minute later at 16:27 UTC, with Ripple transferring the same amount of XRP.
🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 400,000,000 #XRP (238,370,064 USD) locked in escrow at #Ripplehttps://t.co/gkz1xtBymT
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) November 1, 2023
🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 🔒 400,000,000 #XRP (238,491,794 USD) locked in escrow at #Ripplehttps://t.co/NN5dHUoiSm
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) November 1, 2023
Escrow Releases: 42 Months Remaining
Ripple also recently released its Q3 2023 market report. This report highlights significant developments within the XRP ecosystem during this period. Notably, XRP experienced substantial volatility on July 13, when it was declared a non-security. The coin’s volatility in Q3 2023 reached a historical 90-day low of 40%.
According to the report, exchanges in the U.S. have also grown to almost 5% of XRP’s global volume, and Binance accounted for 60% of XRP’s trading volume in the last quarter.
Ripple also confirmed that it will take 42 months to release the rest of XRP currently locked in escrow.
As of September 30, Ripple’s escrow account held approximately 41.3 billion XRP. A while ago, rumors were circulating that Ripple intends to burn the XRP in escrow. However, this has not been confirmed yet, and no signs are pointing to it.
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