In a routine procedure, San Francisco-based payments company Ripple has witnessed the unlocking of 1 billion XRP tokens from escrow.
The development, which occurred in the early hours of today, saw the company’s escrow wallets release 1 billion XRP, valued at $621.78 million, across three transactions.
Transaction Details
Data from Whale Alert shows that the escrow system first unlocked 500 million XRP ($310.64 million) today at 02:53 UTC. Six minutes later, the second escrow release, containing 400 million XRP ($248.88 million), was executed.
Afterward, the Ripple escrow system unlocked the last batch of XRP for October, featuring 100 million tokens worth $62.24 million. This transaction was executed at exactly 03:00 UTC, bringing Ripple’s total XRP unlock for October to 1 billion XRP.
It bears mentioning that all three transactions were initiated by OffEscrowerOfDai, a blockchain account frequently associated with Ripple’s monthly XRP unlocks.
Ripple Expected to Re-Lock 800M XRP in Escrow
Meanwhile, Ripple is expected to re-lock most of the funds back in escrow as part of the usual procedure. Notably, the company typically re-locks 80%, or 800 million XRP, in escrow after releasing 1 billion tokens on the first day of each month.
The Crypto Basic reported that Ripple followed this pattern last month during its September escrow release, unlocking 1 billion XRP and re-locking 80% of the funds in escrow. The retained 200 million XRP might have been used to advance the company’s businesses.
Interestingly, this transaction coincided with the timeline for the company’s payment of $125 million to the SEC following its violation of federal securities laws.
Many community members then speculated that Ripple could sell the 200 million XRP to pay the fine.
XRP Plunges 4.26% in 24 Hours
In the meantime, XRP is trading at $0.6203, down 4.26% over the past 24 hours. Conversely, XRP is up 5.26% in the past seven days and 11.09% in the monthly charts.
XRP 1D Chart
It remains unlikely that Ripple’s recent XRP unlocks affected the token’s performance in the past 24 hours, as the broader crypto market has also seen huge corrections within the same timeframe.
