Ripple kicked off 2026 with a closely watched escrow event: on January 1 the company released 1 billion XRP from its scheduled monthly escrow — a move that landed at a sensitive time for the token after XRP finished December 2025 down 14.8%, its first red December since 2022.
On-chain records (via XRPScan) show the release happened in three large transactions within a tight window. Two transfers — 300 million XRP (about $552 million) and 200 million XRP (about $368 million) — were sent to the rMhkqz address, labeled Ripple (28), bringing that wallet’s intake to 500 million XRP almost instantaneously. The remaining 500 million XRP (roughly $920 million) was sent to r9NpyV, the Ripple (9) wallet. On paper, the move immediately increased XRP’s circulating supply.
Yet the immediate blockchain activity shifted the narrative away from a simple “supply dump.” Historically Ripple relocks between 70% and 80% of each monthly escrow release to mitigate supply shocks, and this month’s pattern followed suit within 24 hours. Funds leaving Ripple (9) were rapidly routed into new escrows, and simultaneous transactions from Ripple (9) and Ripple (28) show millions being removed from immediate circulation.
Specifically:
- At 17:17 UTC, an escrow creation locked 500 million XRP into the Ripple (15) address.
- At 17:19 UTC, Ripple (14) created an escrow for 100 million XRP.
- At 17:21 UTC, another escrow creation secured 100 million XRP in Ripple (15).
Those transactions account for 700 million XRP already placed back into escrow, underscoring Ripple’s routine relocking behavior rather than an outright sell-off. That said, the market impact will likely hinge less on the headline “1 billion unlocked” and more on how much of the remaining unlocked supply is moved to exchanges — a flow that tends to drive short-term price pressure.
In short: the January 1 escrow unlock briefly expanded XRP’s on-paper supply, but rapid relocking of the bulk of tokens suggests controlled liquidity management. Traders and observers should now watch exchange inflows and any subsequent on-chain movements to gauge real selling risk.
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