A Ripple Labs-associated crypto wallet recently transferred a huge amount of XRP to an unknown wallet. This bold move has raised concerns about selling pressure in the market. Meanwhile, XRP’s price continues to drop amid a general crypto market downturn.
The coin currently hovers around $0.52, with recent market activity drawing attention from investors and analysts alike.
Ripple Labs and Current XRP Transfers
Whale Alert revealed a wallet address affiliated with Ripple moved 30 million XRP, valued at approximately $15.9 million. The sending address (rKve…3PEv) sent the XRP to an unknown wallet. There is not much detail about Ripple’s latest XRP transfer.
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However, there are speculations that Ripple is offloading its reserves to third parties, potentially contributing to market volatility. It is also possible that the XRP transaction is related to liquidity provisions for Ripple’s ongoing provisions.
Intriguingly, the recent transaction follows a series of XRP transfers from Ripple in the past few months. On September 19, Ripple transferred 100 million XRP, worth $57.92 million, to several exchanges. Similar XRP transfers occurred several times last month, with other whales also moving large amounts of the coin.
Notably, Whale Alert spotted a 95 million XRP transfer to a wallet linked to the Binance crypto exchange. In a subsequent transaction, large XRP holders also moved about 81.56 million XRP to different exchanges.
The XRP and Escrow History, What it Means for XRP
There is also speculation that these token transfers might be linked to the escrow operations of Ripple Labs.
The company launched the escrow system in December 2017 to ensure the predictability and stability of the XRP market. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, XRP is pre-mined and has a total token supply of 100 billion. Of the coin’s total supply, 80 billion XRP coins were allocated to Ripple. The remaining 20 billion XRP is for Ripple’s co-founders and the core team.
To ensure a stable supply of XRP, the firm locked 55 billion XRP in an escrow account. Ripple scheduled the escrow release at a rate of 1 billion per month, with the original release schedule targeting 55 months.
Ripple periodically releases XRP from its escrow accounts to fund its operations. Additionally, unsold XRP goes back into escrow, and this mechanism is expected to steady the price volatility. However, this trend does not usually hold as large unlocks can lead to volatility and potential market speculation.
XRP Price and Other Factors to Note
Within the last 24 hours, XRP has recorded a major price drop, decreasing by 2.76% to $0.524. This decrease comprised a 5.52% decline since the start of the week. Meanwhile, Ripple’s ongoing legal conflicts with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continue to stir discussions in the market.
The SEC recently filed a late appeal against Ripple, focusing on the key aspects of XRP’s sales and executives’ actions. Many expect the regulatory clarity on XRP will boost its price once the case is over. In a related development, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen donated $10 million to assist Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign.
With high stakes in the US political landscape from crypto leaders, some believe a pro-crypto President will emerge that can help boost XRP ETF approval.
