Ripple Plans to Liquidate All Unlocked XRP Reserves by End of 2023

The largest XRP holder prepares to release all unlocked reserves by the end of 2023, already expended 240 million XRP in December.

Ripple, the primary holder of XRP, set to dispose of all its accessible XRP reserves by the end of 2023.

As the largest holder of XRP, Ripple has predominantly locked away most of its holdings in escrow until 2027. On a monthly basis, the company manages 1 billion tokens, choosing to either re-lock or retain its desired share. In December, Ripple retained 200 million XRP (20%) and re-secured the remainder in escrows scheduled for April and May 2027. Notably, the crypto wallet housing its available reserves is identified as 'Ripple (1)' according to XRP Scan.

Typically, the company allocates what it wishes to retain each month to this account, subsequently transferring funds to an unlabeled address. From there, the amount is routed to a series of other unlabeled addresses, presumably controlled by the same entity, until the XRP tokens reach centralized exchanges. Most months witness Ripple utilizing the entire unlocked amount. Occasionally, the company sells a portion while maintaining the rest in its reserves.

Surprisingly, in December, Ripple already spent 240 million XRP despite only retaining 200 million unlocked tokens. This suggests the company is utilizing a portion of the accumulated reserves in 2023 before the year concludes. The sales occurred in three installments subsequent to the receipt of 200 million XRP from 'Ripple (22)' on December 1. Initially, 60 million was spent on December 6, followed by another 60 million six days later.

More recently, Ripple consolidated its overspending by executing a 120 million XRP transaction on December 20 to the same destination. Interestingly, Ripple's account still retains 96.34 million liquid XRP, available for potential disposal at any time. This amount translates to $57.87 million, based on the current XRP trading price of $0.62 per token.

Ultimately, the decision to sell or retain all unlocked reserves lies solely with Ripple. Thus far, the total sales in December amount to $148.80 million, directly absorbed by the company and its shareholders.

These sales contribute to XRP's supply inflation as the unlocked tokens enter circulation each month. Notably, Ripple holds the power to directly influence the economic dynamics of its token, thereby impacting its future price and value, as previously highlighted by Finbold.