Ripple, the company behind XRPL and the XRP token development, will unlock 1 billion XRP on February 1, Saturday. At current prices, this unlock is worth $3.10 billion, of which Ripple could sell a fraction throughout the month.
When XRP was launched in 2012, Ripple kept 80 billion of the supply out of circulation to itself, gradually selling some units, distributing it to the market. In 2017, the company implemented an escrow system to lock the still undistributed 55 billion XRP, with programmed monthly unlocks.
This system remains to these days, as Ripple continues to unlock 1 billion XRP on the first day of every month, reserving a fraction (usually 20%) for its monthly sales and expenses, while re-locking the remaining tokens into new escrows for the following years.
On February 1, three escrows will unlock 1 billion XRP for Ripple. We are yet to see what comes next.
Ripple unlocks 1 billion XRP to sell in February
The unlock will occur for the first time from the accounts XRP Scan labels as ‘Ripple (26)’ and ‘Ripple (27)’. Before that, the unlocks were happening from ‘Ripple (24)’ and ‘Ripple (25)’, as Finbold reported multiple times throughout 2024.
In particular, ‘Ripple (26)’ will unlock two escrows of 400 million and 100 million XRP, while ‘Ripple (27)’ will unlock a single escrow of 500 million XRP.
According to past activities, Ripple could keep between 200 million to 470 million XRP from the unlocked 1 billion. Previously, in January, the company reserved 300 million XRP to sell and distribute in the market.
XRP price analysis
By press time, XRP is trading at $3.10 per token, up 45.44% in a month, from January’s unlock. The upward demand pressure has challenged Ripple’s selling pressure from the 300 million reserved XRP, bringing XRP to remarkable levels.
However, for the price to continue its upward’s trajectory, XRP must be able to continue to find demand among retail and institutional investors, as Ripple continues to offload significant shares of their holdings and the token’s circulating supply.
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