Ripple Unlocks 500M XRP from Escrow as Price Retests $0.50

Ripple has witnessed the release of 500 million XRP from escrow to cater for May, with the latest escrow unlock coming amid a period of price volatility for XRP.

Data from XRPL explorer Bithomp shows that the transaction occurred today at 02:15 AM (UTC), consistent with the standard procedures for escrow unlocks. The execution was initiated by OffEscrowerOfDai, an account commonly engaged in such processes and noted for its unusual memos.

Notably, the recipient address also received 500 million XRP from last months escrow execution but has held onto the tokens until now. As a result, following the latest release, the address now holds 1 billion XRP valued at more than $500 million.

On-chain data shows that this address retains 4 billion XRP in escrow, which is scheduled to be released every month until January 2025. Overall, Ripple now has 39 billion XRP tokens locked across eight escrow wallets, which represent 39% of XRPs total supply.

Anomalies in Ripple Escrow Unlocks

It is noteworthy that the recent escrow unlocks involving the release of only 500 million tokens represents a departure from the typical procedure—a trend observed throughout the year. Although the escrow execution process schedules the release of 1 billion XRP on the first day of each month, deviations from this schedule have occurred.

Last month, Ripple saw the release of only 500 million XRP on the first of the month. Nearly a week later, on April 12, the escrow wallet unlocked another batch of 500 million tokens. Meanwhile, March saw the release of only 500 million XRP tokens. The second transaction, meant to unlock the remaining tokens, encountered an error.

Moreover, in February, Ripple witnessed the release of 600 million XRP on the first day of the month and 400 million tokens on Feb. 25. January is the only month that has recorded the standard procedure of escrow release this year. However, Ripple has continued to lock back 800 million XRP each month.

It bears mentioning that while Ripple programmed the escrow wallets to unlock 1 billion tokens on the first day of each month at midnight, these releases only occur when triggered by an external party. At times, these parties fail to execute the transactions, leading to delays.

XRP Battles to Retain $0.50

Meanwhile, the latest unlock comes at a time when XRP is battling to defend the $0.50 psychological support amid the market volatility. Following reports that a U.S. court had sentenced Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to four months in prison, Bitcoin dropped below $60,000, taking the rest of the market down with it.

Nonetheless, XRP has held up quite well over the last 24 hours, as it changes hands at $0.5020. While Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are down 5.54% and 5.94%, XRP has only seen a 2.69% decline within the same timeframe. In addition, Solana (SOL) has collapsed 8.22%, with Dogecoin (DOGE) slumping 8.52%.