2 - 3 minute read
One billion XRP tokens were released from escrow accounts on January 1, according to the cryptocurrency tracking firm Whale Alert. The accounts, however, were not identified as belonging to Ripple, the business that initially placed the coins in escrow. Instead, the accounts were attributed to unidentified parties. Another cryptocurrency tracking firm, Bithomp, has identified the accounts as belonging to Ripple, with each holding 1 billion XRP at present. Tokens have not yet been transferred to exchanges or other on-demand liquidity (ODL) venues.
The monthly release of XRP from escrows is a standard process for Ripple, with the goal of giving certainty to the token’s supply when it is used directly by the firm in its transactions. Initially, 55 percent of the total 100 billion XRP supply was locked in these accounts, but that proportion has since decreased to 42.7%. The majority of tokens are currently on the market. According to XRPArcade, a monthly release of 1 billion XRP from escrow leaves an average of 184 million tokens on the market.
🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 500,000,000 #XRP (170,074,826 USD) unlocked from escrow at unknown wallethttps://t.co/yymqzSjLYk
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 1, 2023
The release of 1 billion XRP tokens from escrow accounts on January 1 is not unusual for the XRP community, but the fact that the tokens were released from unknown accounts rather than Ripple’s escrows significant. It is still unknown what will occur with the tokens, although it is possible that they will be sold or utilised in ODL operations. In its most recent two quarterly reports, Ripple reported a total of $718 million in net sales.
