Unit 2 · Reading big moves
Does unlocked escrow get sold?
- 2 min read
- 3 sections
- 3 questions · +25 XP
One billion XRP unlocks monthly, but unused XRP is re-locked. Watch the net decrease, not the unlock.
One billion unlocks on the 1st
In 2017 Ripple locked 55 billion XRP in escrow, split so one billion unlocks on the 1st of each month. Not even Ripple can move it early.
Most of it gets re-locked
Unlocked XRP goes to Ripple wallets, and whatever is not needed that month is re-locked within days. "A billion hits the market" is not what happens.
The big Ripple-to-Ripple moves you see on our live page early each month are this schedule, which is why we tag them "monthly schedule".
Watch the yearly net decrease
How much the escrow balance fell over a year is closer to what Ripple actually used. That is the chart on our escrow page.
Even XRP taken out is not necessarily sold; it can go to partners, institutional deals or operations. Where it went needs separate wallet tracing.
See it on the site
Related terms
- Escrow
- Locks XRP so nobody can move it before a set date.
- Fee burn
- XRP paid as fees is destroyed, so total supply slowly shrinks.