Ifeanyi Jesse 
Ripple Releases 1 Billion XRP as Distribution Strategy
Ripple (XRP), a company based in San Francisco, has released 1 billion XRP from its escrow account, which is the same as $469.6 million. As part of its monthly payout, which began in December 2017, the company gave out XRP coins.
Ripple has been slowly releasing XRP from its trust account to ensure the supply of XRP tokens is stable and predictable.
🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 🔓 500,000,000 #XRP (234,797,873 USD) unlocked from escrow at unknown wallethttps://t.co/fFhMl9ZQHn
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) May 1, 2023
Centralization Concerns Over Ripple’s Latest XRP Unlock
The new release is part of several XRP unlocks that happen every month to help to provide supply predictability and maintain the stability of the XRP token.
If any XRP is left empty, it is usually sent back to escrow, which delays the release. On the other hand, critics say that Ripple controls most of the XRP tokens in lockup, which is a sign of too much centralization.
Critics say that this kind of power by a single body goes against the autonomous nature of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Investors are also worried that Ripple’s ability to give out a lot of XRP each month could be used to change the token’s price.
Recent Ripple Release has nothing to do with Price Drop
The case between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decreased the XRP token’s price. Still, it’s important to remember that the recent release of XRP coins from trust wallets wasn’t meant to cause the price of XRP to drop.
Whale Alert has not heard of any XRP being sent to Ripple’s trust accounts. Still, it is expected that Ripple will lock some newly released coins again before the weekend.
The latest release of 1 billion XRP tokens happened simultaneously with Ripple’s Q1 rise when the company said that sales increased significantly. The Ripple team says their sales jumped to $361.06 million in the first quarter of 2023, a massive $226.31 million increase from the fourth quarter of 2022.
An XRP token’s price has decreased by 2.54% in the last 24 hours, making it worth $0.4653. During this time, the least the token sold for was $0.4618, and the most it sold for was $0.4818.