The cryptocurrency giant Ripple executed a strategic move as it carried out its routine monthly token unlock, releasing 1 billion XRP. This action has provided fresh fodder for speculation in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency. The routine practice, spotted by the whale tracking platform Whale Alert, seems to demonstrate Ripple’s commitment to market stability.
Ripple Unlocks 1 Billion XRP
According to data provided by Whale Alert, Ripple has, as part of its routine procedure, announced the unlocking of another billion XRP from its escrow accounts. This significant move occurred over three transactions. In the first transaction, 500 million XRP worth approximately $301 million were unlocked.
This was followed by the release of another 300 million XRP coins valued at $180.6 million. Finally, 200 million XRP worth $120.4 million were released from Ripple’s escrow account. Based on the current XRP value of $0.6132, the total value of the released tokens is approximately $613 million.
Meanwhile, the unlocking events in question are taking place under the escrow system introduced in December 2017. The company had initially locked 55 billion XRP into escrow accounts. They announced the plan to release 1 billion each month for 55 months in order to stabilize the XRP market.
However, Ripple took additional steps to ensure market stability. Shortly after the expected release of 1 billion coins into the market, a significant portion of XRP was relocked. As of the time of writing, Ripple has not yet returned a portion of the newly unlocked 1 billion cryptocurrency to the escrow account.
Following the token unlock on December 1st, Ripple’s escrow balance has now reached 39.9 billion XRP. Looking back, it was observed that a large part of the unlocked XRP had been relocked.
XRP Price and Recent Whale Transactions
Despite the unlocking of 1 billion XRP, the fifth-largest cryptocurrency did not receive negative market reaction and its price remained relatively stable. Over the past 24 hours, the XRP price recorded a 1.77% increase, trading at $0.6139, while its market cap rose by 1.8% to $33.08 billion. Meanwhile, its trading volume has also seen a decrease of approximately 15%.
Additionally, there have been significant whale movements within the XRP ecosystem recently. Following the unlocking of 1 billion XRP, 27 million XRP worth $16.4 million were transferred from Binance to an unknown wallet.
Subsequently, 26 million XRP valued at $15.6 million were moved from an unidentified wallet to Bitso. Another transfer involved 25.8 million XRP worth $15.5 million being sent from an unknown wallet to Bitstamp. These transactions have sparked rumors about what might be behind these XRP transfers.
- Ripple’s strategic XRP unlock fuels speculation.
- Market stability remains Ripple’s apparent aim.
- Whale movements induce curiosity in the XRP community.
