Ripple Surprises Market with Early Release of 500 Million XRP Tokens
In an unexpected turn of events, Ripple has unlocked 500 million XRP tokens from its escrow wallets in the middle of April, sparking curiosity among market participants. This is a departure from the company’s usual practice of unlocking 1 billion XRP on the first day of every month, a pattern that has been in place since 2017 to ensure a systematic release of tokens.
The recent escrow release took place on April 12, eleven days later than expected, and was made in two separate transactions. Whale-tracking platform Whale Alert drew attention to this unusual occurrence in two disclosures on X.
The first transaction occurred at 5:05 AM and saw the release of 200 million XRP. At the time of the transaction, the assets were valued at $122.6 million. Interestingly, the recipient wallet, which belonged to Ripple, had been inactive since March 2021 before the recent transaction.
Just four minutes after the first transaction, the second transaction took place, releasing an additional 300 million XRP, valued at $183.89 million. This brought the total amount released to 500 million, and both transactions were sent to the same address. As of now, Ripple has not moved the tokens from this address.
Upon closer examination of the transactions, it becomes clear that these specific escrow releases were originally scheduled to occur after April 1 at midnight. Ripple has automated these unlocks so that the network releases 1 billion XRP tokens across various addresses on the first day of each month. However, some of these scheduled releases experience delays or encounter issues with the intended recipient address. In the case of the recent releases, the system executed them 11 days after the scheduled date.
Earlier this month, The Crypto Basic reported that Ripple unlocked only 500 million XRP on April 1, leaving some community members speculating that these releases were intended for May. However, it has now been confirmed that they were actually late releases for April, completing the 1 billion quota.
It is worth noting that after releasing the initial 500 million XRP from escrow, Ripple locked back 800 million tokens on April 1. This has been a recurring trend, with the company locking back 800 million XRP every month, even before the scheduled 1 billion tokens are fully released. These delays and failures have been a consistent theme throughout the year, with the network only releasing 500 million XRP in March and locking back 800 million tokens.
In February, the network unlocked 600 million XRP at the beginning of the month and another 400 million tokens on the 25th. However, before receiving the 400 million, the firm locked back 600 million XRP. The only month this year where Ripple followed its normal routine unlock schedule was January.
Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s opinions and do not reflect the views of The Crypto Basic. Readers are strongly advised to conduct their own research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic holds no responsibility for any financial losses incurred.