A Glassnode blockchain researcher has debunked circulating claims that the $XRP supply on exchanges has dropped to 1.6 billion.
Claims of an $XRP supply shock re-emerged after Glassnode data showed that exchange balances had fallen to 1.6 billion $XRP, representing just 2.6% of the 60.9 billion $XRP in circulation. Some commentators and media platforms interpreted this figure as the total $XRP available for sale and argued that such low exchange reserves could indicate tightening supply.
However, a Glassnode blockchain researcher recently explained that the metric only tracks wallets Glassnode has identified as belonging to exchanges and that it includes custodial holdings without distinguishing what is actually for sale.
Key Points
- Glassnode data showed 1.6 billion $XRP on exchanges, equal to 2.6% of the 60.9 billion circulating supply.
- As a result, $XRP community figures and media platforms interpreted this figure as the total supply on exchanges, rejuvenating the supply shock discussions.
- A Glassnode blockchain researcher has debunked this, confirming that the metric only shows wallets Glassnode has verified as exchange-owned and includes custodial holdings.
- He explained that Glassnode tracks only a small portion of exchange wallets, which makes the reported balance appear unusually low.
- Glassnode plans to add more exchange addresses identified through XRPL block explorers, which could raise the reported balance.
- XRPScan data from December 2025 showed exchanges held up to 16 billion $XRP, with 10 billion $XRP across Upbit, Binance, Binance.US, and Uphold.
Glassnode Researcher Confirms $XRP Exchange Supply Surpasses 1.6B
The researcher’s response was shared by pseudonymous $XRP commentator, Crypto Arsenal. According to him, the posts circulating online misunderstand what the exchange balance metric actually measures.
$XRP Balance | Glassnode
The blockchain researcher first clarified that Glassnode’s “balance on exchanges” metric only shows $XRP held in wallets that the company has internally identified and verified as belonging to exchanges.
These wallets include all $XRP stored there, including custodial holdings. In other words, the metric does not separate tokens that are actively available for trading from those being held on behalf of users.
Crypto Arsenal then pointed out that Glassnode tracks only a limited portion of exchange wallets. Because the company has not yet identified all exchange-related addresses, a large share of $XRP held on exchanges does not appear in the current data. This confirms why it reports lower figures.
On-Chain Data Has Limits
He further noted that no one can assess how much $XRP is truly available for sale using on-chain data alone. Notably, wallet balances do not reveal whether tokens belong to long-term holders, custodial accounts, or active traders. As a result, drawing firm conclusions about “available supply” based only on identified exchange wallets can lead to misleading claims.
Meanwhile, he confirmed that Glassnode plans to expand its tracking by incorporating exchange addresses identified through XRPL block explorers like XRPScan. This process will begin soon.
Going forward, GN will look to incorporate identified addresses by XRPL block explorers to improve the range of data GN present.
This process is starting imminently, so if you see the exchange supply going up, dont panic… it’s just the curated information being updated. pic.twitter.com/h5uGmI4VVs
— CryptoArsenal (@_CryptoArsenal) February 10, 2026
As more exchange wallets get added to the system, the reported exchange supply could increase. He advised that if the exchange balance figure rises, market participants should not panic, as such a change would show improved data collection rather than new $XRP flowing onto exchanges.
Exchanges Hold Nearly 16B $XRP
Notably, this is not the first time the supply shock claim faced criticism. The Crypto Basic found last December that the idea of $XRP exchange balances collapsing had flaws. Data from XRPScan showed that exchanges held as much as 16 billion $XRP, representing 26% of the circulating supply.
Further data revealed that four major exchanges, including Upbit, Binance, Binance.US, and Uphold, alone held up to 10 billion $XRP tokens. These figures surpass the numbers propagated then and also differ from the 1.6 billion $XRP shown in Glassnode’s current metric.
