Ripple is preparing to unlock another 1 billion XRP from escrow on December 1, marking the company’s final scheduled monthly release of the cryptocurrency in 2026.
According to data from XRP Insights, four escrow contracts holding a combined 1 billion XRP are scheduled to become available at 00:00 UTC on December 1. At XRP’s price of about $0.99, the release would represent a notional value of approximately $990 million.
The upcoming unlock follows Ripple’s November 1 release, when the company made another 1 billion XRP available through two separate transactions of 500 million tokens each.
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However, the scheduled release does not necessarily mean the entire amount will enter circulation or reach cryptocurrency exchanges.
Ripple’s history of not releasing all unlocked XRP
Ripple has historically returned a substantial portion of its monthly escrow releases to new time-locked contracts, limiting the amount of additional XRP entering circulation.
For instance, Ripple re-escrowed approximately 700 million XRP following its October and November releases, leaving a net 300 million XRP outside escrow in each monthly cycle.
If the company maintains this pattern in December, approximately 300 million XRP would remain outside escrow, while the remaining 700 million would be locked up for future releases.
Nevertheless, the actual amount will depend on Ripple’s subsequent transactions.
Importantly, tokens released from escrow should not automatically be considered sold. XRP can remain in Ripple-controlled wallets or be allocated to operational requirements, liquidity arrangements, and ecosystem distributions.
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When will Ripple escrow end?
Despite the upcoming release marking the end of its 2026 schedule, Ripple’s escrow programme is far from over.
As things stand, approximately 31.1 billion XRP remains locked in Ripple-controlled escrow contracts as of November 13, with 32 scheduled monthly releases still recorded on the ledger.
The December release will be followed by another 1 billion XRP unlock on January 1, 2027, with further releases scheduled for subsequent months.
Ripple introduced its escrow mechanism in December 2017, initially locking 55 billion XRP into time-based contracts to make the distribution of its substantial holdings more predictable.
Under the arrangement, up to 1 billion XRP becomes available each month, while unused tokens can be returned to escrow and assigned new release dates.
XRP price analysis
By press time, XRP was trading at $0.99, having declined about 3% over the last 24 hours. On the weekly timeline, the cryptocurrency was down more than 15%.
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XRP is trading significantly below both its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of $1.33 and its 200-day SMA of $1.26.
Its position below both averages signals a bearish trend across the short- and long-term timeframes, with the 50-day SMA also remaining above the 200-day SMA.
Meanwhile, the asset’s 14-day relative strength index (RSI) stands at 20.86, placing XRP deep in oversold territory. This suggests that selling pressure has intensified and raises the possibility of a short-term relief rebound.
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