Ripple Unlocks 1 Billion XRP Tokens: What Does This Mean for the XRP Community?

Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, has restarted its monthly release program, releasing 1 billion XRP tokens from its Escrow reserve.

This routine transaction, revealed by leading cryptocurrency tracker Whale Alert, occurred in three consecutive whale transactions.

The first transaction resulted in the release of 200 million XRP tokens worth $120.4 million. The second transaction followed quickly, revealing 300 million tokens worth around $180.6 million.

The final whale transaction from the escrow account released a massive 500 million XRP tokens with a $301 million estimated value. The total unlocked tokens are worth $610 million at the current market price.

Ripple performs this monthly ritual on the first of every month as part of its escrow system. It should be noted, however, that the company typically reclaims a significant portion of the released tokens shortly after their initial release. This procedure has been in place since Ripple first implemented the escrow system.

Ripple retrieved approximately 800 million XRP in November after unlocking 1 billion tokens. The same sum was reclaimed in October, so the community is wondering if a similar move will be made this month.

Notably, after reclaiming 80% of the tokens the previous month, the remaining 20% was transferred from the Ripple 22 address to the Ripple 1 address, where it remains liquid for the company’s operational needs.

Despite the lack of an official announcement from Ripple regarding the fate of the 1 billion tokens, historical patterns indicate that the company will likely reclaim a significant portion.

The XRP asset is currently valued at around $0.609, representing a 1% increase in the last 24 hours.

According to CoinMarketCap, its market capitalization is $32,859,271,275, reflecting the same percentage increase over the same time period.