XRP News Today: XRP’s Available Supply Just 12% to 15% of Total

Blockchain engineer Vincent Van Code has released an analysis revealing that over 85% of XRP’s total supply of 100 billion units is either locked, lost, or held in dormant wallets. This finding challenges the common perception of XRP’s available supply for payments, settlements, and liquidity.

Van Code’s analysis shows that Ripple controls around 35.9 billion XRP in escrow, with 1 billion tokens released monthly. However, nearly 800 million tokens are typically relocked back into escrow each time, limiting the actual inflow of XRP into the open market. Additionally, Ripple holds 4.9 billion XRP outside of escrow for strategic initiatives, further reducing the available supply for public or institutional use.

Van Code estimates that 5 to 8 billion XRP are permanently inaccessible due to lost private keys and abandoned early wallets. Institutional investors and early adopters hold between 20 and 25 billion XRP in mostly inactive wallets, contributing to ongoing supply constraints. The rise of decentralized finance on the XRP Ledger is also locking up more tokens, with over 12 million XRP committed to automated market maker pools.

Considering all factors—Ripple’s escrow and strategic reserves, permanently lost tokens, dormant investor wallets, and DeFi lockups—Van Code concludes that only 12 to 15 billion XRP is currently available for actual use. This represents just 12% to 15% of the total supply, indicating that XRP’s liquid supply is far smaller than commonly believed.

As utility demand for XRP grows, this limited float could lead to noticeable supply pressure across markets. The reduced circulating supply could make XRP more attractive to investors seeking assets with limited availability. However, it could also make XRP more susceptible to price fluctuations, as any significant changes in demand could have a disproportionate impact on the price.

Van Code’s analysis underscores the importance of understanding the true supply dynamics of cryptocurrencies. Many investors and analysts focus on the total supply, but the actual circulating supply can be much lower due to tokens being locked or lost. This discrepancy can significantly impact the price and market dynamics of a cryptocurrency. In the case of XRP, the reduced circulating supply could drive up the price if demand remains steady.