In a recent online discussion on X, Ripple’s CTO, David Schwartz, addressed concerns regarding the company’s large holdings of XRP and its ongoing sales of the cryptocurrency.
Schwartz clarified that Ripple’s strategy of selling XRP is a liquidity management tactic. As the largest holder of XRP, Ripple holds its tokens in two categories, according to its Q1 Report: immediately accessible XRP and escrowed XRP. While a significant portion of XRP is locked in escrow accounts with a 42-month release schedule, Ripple cannot access these tokens during this period. Additionally, most of the XRP released monthly from escrow are also re-locked.
Balancing Liquidity with Locked XRP
Through his online post, Schwartz explained why Ripple is the “biggest seller of XRP,” Schwartz stated that the only possible alternative to avoiding XRP sales is to hold them indefinitely. However, he added that Ripple’s XRP sale is mandatory for carefully handling the locked XRP.
As of March 31, Ripple reportedly held nearly 5 billion XRP in readily available wallets, with an additional 40 billion XRP locked in escrow accounts. This substantial amount of locked XRP, coupled with Schwartz’s explanation, highlights Ripple’s strategic approach to managing its native token.
XRP’s Market Performance
Currently, XRP is hailed as the 7th largest token on CoinMarketCap, boasting a market cap of nearly 30 billion. As of press time, XRP is trading at $0.5348, up by 4.39% daily. The token has exhibited a bullish trend as both weekly and monthly charts show positive movement. Over the past week, XRP has shown a notable increase of nearly 6% and a moderate surge of 1.7% in the last month.
