In a new development, two whale addresses transferred about 100 million XRP ($51 million) to Bitstamp and Binance right before Ripple released the 1 billion tokens for June. Also, other findings disclosed that one of the whale addresses is associated with Ripple, and these transfers occurred right before Ripple’s June escrow unlock.
How Much XRP Did Bitstamp Receive?
Whale Alert, one of the most advanced blockchain tracker and analytics systems, disclosed that the first transaction that saw 23.5 million XRP, worth around $12.24 million, transferred from an unknown address to Bitstamp occurred on May 31 at 20:33 (UTC).
Read Also: Lawyer Pinpoints Why Uphold Keeps Trading XRP in the U.S. Despite Ripple-SEC Lawsuit
Although the intent of the transaction remains undisclosed, advocates have been speculating that it could involve Ripple’s on-demand liquidity (ODL) or funding for Ripple’s internal operations. In addition, based on On-chain data discovery, the unknown address responsible for the transfer of the 23.5 million XRP was said to be activated by Ripple, which implies an affiliation with the technology company.
🚨 23,500,000 #XRP (12,247,897 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Bitstamphttps://t.co/0aFSBbpo09
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) May 31, 2023
Notably, Ripple Expanded its Relationship with Bitstamp following the purchase of Bitstamp shares, previously owned by Pantera Capital, a US-based investment company. Pantera sold the shares for Ripple in the first quarter of 2023 after initially acquiring the shares for $10 million in 2013.
Binance Received 3× XRP Tokens In Comparison With What Bitstamp Acquired
Barely two hours after the first transfer of about 23.5 million XRP, another unknown wallet transferred 75.9 million XRP to Binance, estimated to be worth about $38.83 million. Further probing revealed that the transfer got initiated by Binance, which suggests an in-house movement.
🚨 🚨 🚨 75,987,591 #XRP (38,831,254 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to #Binancehttps://t.co/YotqQtqgRs
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) May 31, 2023
Meanwhile, this is not the first time we have witnessed similar transactions. In March, Binance allegedly moved 34 million XRP, while Ripple moved 100 million tokens to an unknown wallet.
Read Also: Ripple Lawyer Moves to Withdraw as Counsel in XRP Lawsuit, But No Cause for Alarm. Here’s why
Part of Ripple’s Monthly Unlock?
The 23.5 million XRP token transfer coincided with the period just before Ripple released 1 billion XRP from escrow for June. These 1 billion XRP tokens got released in three different transactions involving 200 million XRP, 300 million XRP, and 500 million XRP.
While it is yet to be confirmed if Ripple moved any tokens from the recipient addresses, we can not ascertain if the movement of 23.5 million XRP tokens has anything to do with the platform’s new escrow unlock. There exists a possibility that the cross-border crypto firm may send the released coins to cater to business operations and return the excess XRP to escrow.
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