David Schwartz Explains Why Ripple is XRP Biggest Seller

Ripple CTO David Schwartz addresses a new wave of concerns regarding the company’s XRP sales in Q1 2024.

For the uninitiated, Ripple’s Q1 2024 report showed that the company sold a whopping 841.5 million XRP in the first quarter of the year. Consequently, Ripple’s XRP holdings depleted to 44.94 billion (44.94% of the coin’s max supply) as of March 31, 2024.

It bears mentioning that Ripple’s XRP sales in Q1 2024 marked a 16% decline from the 1.006 billion coins the company sold in the previous quarter. Nonetheless, Ripple still remains the biggest seller of XRP.

Here’s Why Ripple Is XRP’s Biggest Seller 

Reacting to this assertion, Schwartz pointed out that Ripple happens to be the biggest seller of XRP because the company holds the most XRP.

According to Schwartz, since Ripple possesses a considerable amount of XRP, the only option available to the company, apart from selling it, is to continue holding the coins for an indefinite period.

Because Ripple has the most XRP and, in practice, the only realistic alternative to selling it is continuing to hold the most XRP indefinitely.

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 19, 2024

Ripple’s XRP Holdings

Of the 44.94 billion XRP Ripple held as of March 31, 40.1 billion were held in multiple escrow wallets, programmed to be released in batches on the first day of each month. 

– Advertisement –

At press time, Ripple’s escrowed balance has dropped to 39,708,537,355 (39.7 billion), according to XRPScan data. The depletion stems from the release of 400 million XRP added to the company’s spendable account in April and May.

Ripple’s spendable balance was around 4.84 billion XRP as of March 31, 2024. Notably, Ripple usually conducts sales from this spendable account to cater to its legitimate business expenses.

Ripple’s XRP Sales Stirs Concerns

Meanwhile, at the current exchange rate of $0.5357, XRP is down 13.4% year-to-date (YTD). Critics have attributed XRP’s underperformance to Ripple’s continuous sales. They recommended that the company burn all XRP held in escrow to pave the way for a parabolic price spike.

However, Schwartz is unconvinced that burning the escrowed XRP coins would positively impact the price.

On the other hand, some enthusiasts speculate that the SEC lawsuit is why XRP has underperformed in recent years. The lawsuit, which contributed majorly to preventing XRP from reaching a new all-time high in the 2021 bull cycle, is close to its end.

Popular crypto stakeholders, including Schwartz, believe a final resolution would occur this year. The parties have already submitted their final briefs in the remedies phase and are waiting for the final judgment.