Ripple released 1 billion XRP tokens from escrow on September 1st, aiming to improve market predictability and transparency through a long-term plan for managing the token supply.
The “Ripple 24” wallet, which has been operational for over seven years, distributed the tokens, with a value of over $560 million. The first transaction released half a billion tokens worth almost $280 million, followed by the second and third releasing a significant quantity of XRP into the market.
The massive release and market volatility caused the XRP price to fall by 2.29 percent to $0.5552. Ripple’s chief technology officer, David Schwartz, has spoken publicly about the company’s 2017 escrow mechanism, which involved placing 55 billion XRP in several escrow accounts to ensure efficient supply management.
The original plan was to promote decentralization and reduce the grip on the supply by releasing 1 billion XRP monthly.
Last month, the US SEC announced its plan to challenge a court ruling against Ripple Labs regarding the categorization of XRP sales, potentially affecting the regulatory framework for crypto. The appeal is a response to a 2023 partial summary decision by Judge Analisa Torres.