Ripple is preparing for its largest monthly release of XRP tokens since 2017, with plans to sell 400 million tokens in June. Despite the current bearish trends in the market, this move indicates significant interest from large investors. Ripple, the biggest holder of XRP and the driving force behind XRP Ledger development, regularly sells off some of its reserves to increase the amount of XRP in circulation.
On June 1, Ripple utilized the XRP Ledger escrow mechanism to unlock 1 billion XRP, equivalent to $520 million, from two designated accounts, “Ripple (24)” and “Ripple (25).” Additionally, the dormant account “Ripple (35)” transferred 200 million XRP to “Ripple (1)” on top of the regular monthly allocation of 200 million tokens to the Treasury. This suggests that there may be an even larger sell-off this month.
In May, “Ripple (24)” sent 200 million XRP to “Ripple (1),” followed by a transfer of 300 million tokens to “Ripple (13),” which were then re-locked in escrow until September 2027. Similarly, “Ripple (25)” sent 500 million unlocked tokens to “Ripple (12),” which were locked until October 2027. XRP Scan has verified all these transactions on-chain.
Since implementing escrows in 2017, Ripple has typically set aside a maximum of 350 million XRP for its monthly dumps. Occasionally, they retain some reserves for a stronger sell-off opportunity in the future, but they have never dumped more than 400 million XRP at once.
The sales by Ripple create supply pressure on the spot market, often resulting in local price crashes for XRP. Out of the 12 sell-off days this year, only five have seen positive price action, emphasizing the importance of monitoring Ripple’s operations. Three out of the first five months of 2024 have shown negative XRP performance on a monthly basis.
Currently, the price of XRP is approximately $0.5142, reflecting a 1.03% decrease in the last 24 hours and a negative position of 3.91% for the previous 7 days, according to CoinMarketCap data. Additionally, a whale has acquired $52 million worth of XRP tokens from Binance.
In conclusion, Ripple’s decision to sell off a significant amount of XRP tokens highlights the continued interest from large investors, despite the bearish trends in the market. This move will likely impact the price of XRP and should be monitored closely by market participants.