Ripple Labs released roughly 900 million XRP, valued at $1.278 billion as of March 13, into circulation during the first quarter of 2026 after unlocking funds from its escrow system. 

According to on-chain alerts reported by Whale Alert and data from XRPSCAN, Ripple unlocked 3 billion XRP between January and March 2026 through its monthly escrow schedule. The escrow system, created in 2017, automatically releases 1 billion XRP every month.

XRPSCAN data indicates that Ripple’s escrow wallets currently hold over 33 billion XRP, meaning the majority of the supply remains time-locked. Of the 3 billion XRP unlocked in the first three months of 2026, Ripple returned approximately 2.1 billion XRP into escrow, leaving about 900 million tokens available for distribution or operational use.

Importantly, XRP tokens released from escrow are not necessarily sold on cryptocurrency exchanges. Ripple has historically distributed XRP through over-the-counter sales, liquidity provisioning for payment corridors, ecosystem incentives, and operational treasury transfers.

What has Ripple Labs done with the XRP sold in 2026?

Over the years, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, has reminded the crypto community that XRP sits at the center of everything that the company does. Additionally, Garlinghouse has admitted that Ripple Labs would not be profitable without the periodic XRP sales. 

As such, Ripple has used the XRP received from the escrow account to run its business operations, including acquisitions. For instance, the company’s GTreasury acquired Solvexia, which provides no-code financial automation, in January 2026.

Earlier this month, the company announced plans to acquire BC Payments to secure an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL). On Thursday, it was reported that the company is planning to repurchase up to $750 million of its shares. Nonetheless, Ripple has, over the years, raised funds from investors to hit a valuation of about $50 billion.