XRP Price Remains Stable as Ripple Transfers 1B XRP Tokens

The price of XRP remained stable despite significant movements in its token supply by Ripple. Ripple, the company behind XRP, transferred 1 billion XRP tokens, even as they committed to locking down 800 million XRP in escrow. According to the announcement, this move followed an earlier release of 500 million XRP tokens from escrow.

Ripple Locks 800 Million XRP in Escrow

Ripple’s recent release of 500 million XRP tokens from escrow is a deviation from its monthly practice of releasing 1 billion XRP tokens since 2017. This event signals a change in Ripple’s standard practices.

Meanwhile, Ripple shared the 500 million released XRP tokens into two different wallets, allotting 200 million to one and 300 million to the other. Notably, one of the wallets that received 300 million XRP tokens has locked all the tokens back in escrow, while the other wallet retained its tokens.

Subsequently, Ripple moved an additional 500 million XRP tokens released from escrow last month to another account managed by its team, resulting in a total of 1 billion tokens being transferred across four separate wallets. However, the recipient address returned the 500 million XRP received to escrow, making the XRP secured in escrow to 800 million.

SEC Ripple Lawsuit and Its Impact on the XRP Price

The ongoing lawsuit against XRP, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) three years ago, has yet to be resolved. The SEC accused Ripple of selling XRP in an unregistered security offering, resulting in a two-year suspension of XRP trading on American cryptocurrency brokerage platforms, and the risk of court-ordered repercussions remains a significant concern.

The next jury trial for the SEC lawsuit will take place in the summer or fall of 2024. Notably, a favorable decision could boost XRP’s price this year, whereas a harsher verdict would likely have the opposite effect on its valuation.

Despite its recent upward trajectory following a prolonged downtrend, XRP has yet to reach its $1 target due to its slow momentum.  As of the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.5139, a 3.62% in the past 24 hours

Ripple CTO Speaks on XRP Price Manipulation Claims

In response to accusations of XRP price manipulation, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, David Schwartz categorically denied the allegations and responded to the claims. Schwartz vehemently refuted the accusations, stating that Ripple had discontinued its programmatic sales of XRP since the first quarter of 2023, as detailed in Ripple’s Q1 2023 XRP Markets Report.

Ripple’s CTO emphasized the company’s commitment to mitigate any price disruptions resulting from these sales and expressed perplexity regarding the allegations of manipulation. However, doubts persisted in the XRP community regarding Ripple’s sales practices and the effectiveness of its payment solutions.