XRP rose after Ripple’s scheduled escrow system released 1 billion tokens on September 1, 2026, despite recurring fears that the monthly unlock could pressure the market. Whale Alert tracked three releases totaling 500 million, 400 million, and 100 million XRP, worth about USD 1.38 billion at the time.
The release followed the same process Ripple has used for years. XRP Ledger escrow contracts unlock up to 1 billion XRP on the first day of each month and send them to Ripple-controlled wallets.
Ripple created the program in December 2017 by locking 55 billion XRP into time-based contracts. Any XRP that Ripple does not use returns to escrow at the end of the release queue.
By September, Ripple’s escrow balance had fallen to 31.28 billion XRP, data cited in the supplied material. Ripple typically re-escrows 700 million to 900 million XRP monthly.
That pattern leaves roughly 100 million to 300 million XRP available for operational use, OTC liquidity deals, or institutional payments. As a result, the headline unlock exceeds the amount that usually stays outside escrow.
Historical figures in the supplied material show seven-day price moves after monthly releases averaging between a 3.1% decline and a 1.7% gain. Thirty-day trading volume increased by 15% to 22%.
The schedule gives traders advance knowledge about timing and size. Ripple’s re-escrow history also provides a recurring guide to how much XRP may remain available after each monthly release.
The supplied data compares that pattern with traditional equity lockups, where insider selling can coincide with single-session drops of 5% to 15%. XRP’s monthly escrow events have shown smaller average moves.
Market conditions around the September release also differed from earlier periods. XRP had recorded its strongest August in five years, while active addresses on the ledger had reached all-time highs.
Spot XRP ETFs were also drawing nine-figure inflows, according to the supplied text. Ripple had ended its four-year SEC battle and was signing deals involving Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan. Those developments formed the backdrop for the September unlock. Instead of falling after the release, XRP rallied as traders absorbed the scheduled increase in available tokens.
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Separate quarterly data showed fewer active accounts on the XRP Ledger’s main exchange compared with a year earlier. However, those accounts moved far more XRP through the order book. Average order-book trading reached 3.57 million XRP per day during the quarter, up 79% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, daily accounts initiating trades fell to about 1,100 from more than 1,860.
That shift lifted average activity to roughly 3,200 XRP traded per account each day. A year earlier, the comparable figure stood near 1,070 XRP per account.
Evernorth, an XRP treasury company preparing to list on NASDAQ, shared the quarterly figures with CoinDesk. The data does not establish whether institutions replaced retail traders because one user can control several accounts.
The number of assets traded against XRP on the order book also fell. Daily traded assets dropped to about 319 from 480, down 18% year over year and the lowest across six reported quarters. Traders now have clear data to track future unlocks, re-escrow amounts, and trading concentration.