Ripple, the developer behind the XRP Ledger and the largest holder of XRP, recently sold 150 million XRP from its July reserves, valued at $64.5 million. This transaction marks a $13.5 million decrease compared to similar activities last month, according to Finbold.
On July 1, Ripple released 1 billion XRP from its initial distribution, which is locked in monthly escrows until 2027. Of this amount, 200 million XRP were moved to Ripple’s treasury account, and the remaining 800 million XRP were relocked into new escrows. Additionally, Ripple transferred an extra 100 million tokens to its sell-off reserves, bringing the total to 300 million XRP for the month.
The selling activity involved Ripple’s treasury account, ‘Ripple (1),’ sending tokens to the unlabeled account ‘rP4X2hTa,’ introducing these tokens into circulation for the first time. Currently, 100 million tokens remain in the ‘rP4X2hTa’ account, with 50 million already transferred to another intermediary address, ‘rhWt2bhR,’ before likely ending up on cryptocurrency exchanges.
The impact of these sales on XRP’s price has been significant. Historically, XRP prices tend to dip following Ripple’s sales due to increased supply pressure in the market. In 2024 alone, Ripple has sold 1.676 billion XRP, inflating the supply by 3.10%. The price of XRP is currently $0.43, reflecting a 30% decrease year-to-date and a 17% drop since the sales on June 7.
In another development, a mysterious transfer of 150 million XRP between Ripple and an unknown address has caught the community’s attention. According to Whale Alert, the recipient address ‘rP4X2h’ was initially activated in 2023 with a 70 million XRP transfer and already held 103.4 million XRP before the latest transaction. Following this, 50 million XRP were quickly moved to another unknown address, ‘rhWt2bh.’
Speculation is rife about the ownership of these addresses, whether they belong to Ripple or one of its partners. Despite a positive start earlier in the week, XRP’s price experienced a correction, and as of July 9, 2024, it is trading in a potentially risky zone, reflecting the volatility in the market.
