Ripple Labs Inc., the company behind the XRP token, has published its Q2 XRP Markets report. In the report, the company disclosed its XRP holdings as of March 31, 2023, and June 30, 2023. As a measure to rebuild trust within the cryptocurrency community, Ripple decided to lock back 800 million XRP tokens into escrow shortly after releasing 1 billion XRP.
There have been discussions surrounding the ownership of Ripple over the XRP held in escrow. Crypto analyst Mr. Huber has provided his insights to this topic. Let’s delve into what he has to say.
Ripple has disclosed its XRP holdings, which can be categorized into two groups: wallet-held XRPs and those locked in escrow. As of March 31, 2023 (Q1), the company held 5,506,585,918 XRP in wallets and had 42,800,000,013 XRP subject to on-ledger escrow. By June 30, 2023 (Q2), Ripple’s wallet-held XRP increased to 5,551,119,094, while the XRP in on-ledger escrow decreased to 41,900,000,005.
Mr. Huber’s Insights on Ripple’s XRP Escrow and Ownership Dynamics
Mr. Huber responded to a user’s claim that funds in a bank vault aren’t physically held by the owner, yet they still own them. The user also criticized the implication that Ripple does not ‘own’ the XRP in escrow by using the term ‘hold’.
In his response, Mr. Huber clarified that while some might perceive it as a crazy conspiracy theory, he believes it is not unlikely that Ripple might not directly own all the XRP in escrow. Instead, he suggested that portions of the escrowed XRP could have been “pre-sold” to other companies or institutions through contractual arrangements.
According to Mr. Huber, this possibility is not absurd, and if it holds true, it would be incorrect to consider the XRP in escrow as the exclusive property of Ripple.
