Ripple, the leading developer of XRP Ledger (XRP) and the token’s largest holder is ready to sell 200 million XRP in August, worth around $110 million at current prices. This massive sell-off, if it happens, can create significant selling pressure on spot markets, potentially holding the XRP price down.
On August 1, Ripple unlocked 1 billion XRP from three escrows running on the ‘Ripple (24)‘ and ‘Ripple (25)‘ accounts. The former released two escrows of 200 million and 300 million tokens, while the latter, a single 500 million contract.
Ripple (24) and Ripple (25) XRP escrows, released on August. Source: XRPScan
Following the unlock, the company moved 200 million XRP to its treasury account, ‘Ripple (1)‘, as it happens every month. The market expects Ripple to make strategic sales from this account throughout August, landing the tokens at crypto exchanges.
Ripple (1) XRP transactions. Source: XRPScan
Ripple’s XRP unlock activity in August
Interestingly, Ripple locked the remaining 80% of the released tokens into new escrows set to end by 2027.
After sending the 200 million XRP to the treasury account, ‘Ripple (24)’ sent 300 million to ‘Ripple (12)‘. Of this amount, the company locked 200 million tokens in escrow to November and 100 million to December 2027.
Meanwhile, ‘Ripple (25)’ sent the full release to ‘Ripple (13)‘, relocking it to November 2027. Finbold has reported this same pattern multiple times, in a monthly basis.
Monthly escrow Ripple (XRP), August 2024. Source: Finbold
XRP price analysis amid Ripple unlocks
As Finbold reported, Ripple sold 1.826 billion XRP from its treasury account year-to-date, worth $1.0 billion at current prices of $0.547 per token. The asset is down 11% in this same period (YTD) and 12.14% down from August 1 since the unlock.
In January, Ripple sold 226 million XRP in three days, all resulting in negative price action for the token. February had a total of 260 million XRP in another three days, two of which had positive performance. March closed the first quarter with 240 million XRP sold from the treasury account in two red days.
Further, Ripple sold 200 million XRP on two days each of April and May, registering three days of gains. However, June marked the company’s largest monthly dump in history, offloading 400 million XRP in two losing days. Most recently, Ripple sold 300 million XRP in two batches of 150 million each as the price surged.
XRP/USD daily price chart with Ripple sell-offs – August 4. Source: TradingView / Finbold
Now, the market awaits to see what Ripple’s selling activity in August will bring. As things develop, traders and investors must remain cautious and weigh the cryptocurrency‘s economic fundamentals.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
