Ripple has recently released 500 million XRP from its escrow to meet the demands of May. This release comes at a time of price volatility for XRP. According to data from XRPL explorer Bithomp, the transaction took place today at 02:15 AM (UTC), following the standard procedures for escrow unlocks. The transaction was initiated by OffEscrowerOfDai, an account known for its unusual memos.
Interestingly, the recipient address had also received 500 million XRP from last month’s escrow execution but had chosen to hold onto the tokens until now. As a result of the latest release, the address now holds a total of 1 billion XRP, which is valued at over $500 million.
On-chain data reveals that this address still retains 4 billion XRP in escrow, which is set to be released every month until January 2025. In total, Ripple currently has 39 billion XRP tokens locked across eight escrow wallets, representing 39% of XRP’s total supply.
It is worth noting that the recent escrow unlocks deviate from the typical procedure observed throughout the year. Instead of releasing 1 billion XRP on the first day of each month, only 500 million tokens have been released. This trend has been consistent in recent months, with deviations occurring regularly.
In February, Ripple released 600 million XRP on the first day of the month and an additional 400 million tokens on February 25. In March, only 500 million XRP tokens were released. Last month, only 500 million XRP were released on the first day of the month, followed by another batch of 500 million tokens on April 12. The second transaction, intended to unlock the remaining tokens, encountered an error.
It is important to mention that while Ripple programmed the escrow wallets to unlock 1 billion tokens on the first day of each month at midnight, these releases only occur when triggered by an external party. Sometimes, these parties fail to execute the transactions, resulting in delays.
Meanwhile, XRP is currently facing a challenge in maintaining the $0.50 psychological support amidst market volatility. Following news of Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s four-month prison sentence, Bitcoin dropped below $60,000, dragging the rest of the market down. However, XRP has fared relatively well in the past 24 hours, with only a 2.69% decline compared to Bitcoin’s 5.54% and Ethereum’s 5.94% decline. Other cryptocurrencies like Solana and Dogecoin have experienced more significant drops.
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