Ripple finally sold all the 200 million XRP tokens reserved for August’s sell-off from the monthly unlock as prices crashed. The cryptocurrency market experienced a wave of liquidations that also affected XRP, while Ripple’s treasury account moved its units.
As Finbold previously reported, Ripple unlocked 1 billion XRP on August 1 and reserved 200 million in its treasury account. Every month, the company unlocks the same amount and arbitrarily prepares the monthly sell-off.
Then, it conducts the selling activity by sending the reserved tokens to an unknown account, which later lands in crypto exchanges. Given the undisclosed nature of Ripple transactions, the market considers these first transactions — from treasury to unknown – as OTC sales.
Notably, the transaction, worth nearly $120 million, occurred at 07:30 p.m. (UTC), with XRP trading at $0.59. This was less than two hours before the asset experienced a massive crash down to $0.55. As of this writing, XRP is changing hands by $0.583, partially recovered from the drop.
XRP 24-hour price chart. Source: Finbold
What happened with Ripple’s 200 million XRP payment?
After reserving the tokens in ‘Ripple (1)‘, the company waited 27 days to make its move, a notable unusual behavior.
Ripple usually conducts these sales in phases throughout the month, often in two to four transactions. However, August’s sell-off occurred in a single batch in the middle of the month’s last week, four days before closing.
As developed, the company sent 200 million XRP to rP4X2hTa7A7udDbE6wczXvPz7XZ63sKxv, who kept 100 million, sending the other half to rhWt2bhRq3wiK9sQnYVmhhKb5Dr2SE32hk. These are the two addresses with unknown ownership that receive most of Ripple’s tokens every month.
Ripple (1) and rP4X2hTa7A7udDbE6wczXvPz7XZ63sKxv transaction history. Source: XRPScan
Later, Ripple’s mysterious buyer sent 16.40 million to r4wf7enWPxyHtbizyV7ZHiZi5XgwHh4Rzn, an account usually used as the last step before dumping to exchanges. In particular, Bitso received the majority of this first sale. These unknown addresses have ongoing activity, sending and receiving XRP constantly.
Last two hops before reaching crypto exchanges. Source: XRPScan
Ripple selling activity and the XRP price
Ripple is one of the world’s most famous cryptocurrency companies, developing and promoting the XRP Ledger. At the same time, Ripple is XRP’s largest holder, responsible for monthly unlocks and sell-offs that impact the token’s price.
So far, the company has moved 2.026 billion XRP from its Treasury account, labeled as ‘Ripple (1)‘ on XRPScan. At current prices, this amount is worth $1.18 billion, although the nominal value of each sale has varied year-to-date.
In January, Ripple sold 226 million XRP in three days, all resulting in negative price action for the token. February had a total of 260 million XRP in another three days, two of which had positive performance. March closed the first quarter with 240 million XRP sold from the treasury account in two red days.
Further, Ripple sold 200 million XRP on two days each of April and May, registering three days of gains. However, June marked the company’s largest monthly dump in history, offloading 400 million XRP in two losing days. Most recently, Ripple sold 300 million XRP in two batches of 150 million each as the price surged.
XRP year-to-date price chart with Ripple’s monthly sell-offs. Source: TradingView / Finbold
All things considered, investors should closely monitor Ripple’s activity to avoid surprises and make profitable decisions. The constant selling pressure can directly impact XRP’s price and is one of the largest in the entire market, increasing its relevancy.