For over a decade, Ripple and its executives have been steadily dumping XRP into the open market. Because XRP was fully created at launch, every token sold came from a known and finite supply. By comparing the original allocations from 2012 with current on-chain holdings, it is now possible to calculate how much XRP Ripple and its executives have offloaded so far.
How XRP Was Allocated And Where The Tokens Went
XRP was launched in 2012 with a fixed supply of 100 billion XRP, all created at once on the XRP Ledger. There has never been mining, staking, or inflation. Of that total supply, 80 billion XRP were transferred to the company that later became Ripple, while the remaining 20 billion XRP were allocated to founders and early insiders. The core individuals involved at launch were Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and David Schwartz.
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More than a decade later, the remaining holdings of Ripple and its executives provide a clear benchmark for calculating how much XRP has been sold. Combined, Ripple and named executives currently control about 41.485 billion XRP. Ripple itself holds approximately 37.685 billion XRP, split between 3.5 billion XRP in wallets that can be accessed directly and 34.185 billion XRP locked in escrow.
Among executives, Chris Larsen, Ripple’s chairman, holds about 2.5 billion XRP across eight wallets, while Arthur Britto controls roughly 1.3 billion XRP spread across seven wallets. David Schwartz, despite being a co-founder, holds a significantly smaller amount, peaking historically at around 26 million XRP, far below the multi-billion-token balances of other insiders.
When current holdings are subtracted from the original allocations, the numbers indicate that Ripple and its executives have sold or distributed approximately 58.515 billion XRP since 2012.
What Those Sales Mean In Price And Market Terms
The scale of these sales often raises concerns about long-term price pressure, but timing is critical. XRP’s earliest recorded market price was approximately $0.00587 in August 2013. Today, it trades near $1.88, reflecting a remarkable increase of roughly 31,756% over that period.
These gains unfolded even as billions of XRP entered circulation gradually rather than in sudden waves. In 2017, Ripple implemented an escrow system that locked up 55 billion XRP, allowing up to 1 billion XRP to be released each month. Any unused portion is returned to escrow, effectively limiting unexpected supply shocks. As of 2026, 34.185 billion XRP remain locked under this system.
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Cumulatively, the 58.515 billion XRP sold over 13 years would be valued at approximately $109 billion at today’s prices. These sales occurred alongside ongoing ecosystem development, legal challenges, and multiple market cycles, highlighting that distribution happened in a managed, phased manner.
Overall, while Ripple and its executives have distributed a significant portion of their holdings, the careful, escrow-managed approach over more than a decade coincided with sustained price appreciation. This suggests that strategic, phased selling has not undermined XRP’s long-term market growth.
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
