Ripple CTO Confirms Ripple Sells XRP to Reduce its Holdings

The top two single-largest XRP wallets belong to Ripple.

David Schwartz, CTO at Ripple, has confirmed that Ripple generates the most revenue from selling its XRP holdings. According to Schwartz, this strategic move also aims to reduce the company’s XRP holdings, further contributing to decentralization.

In a recent thread of tweets, Schwartz confirmed this by seeking to address certain misconceptions surrounding XRP and the XRP Ledger. A statement alleged that Ripple still actively sells its XRP holdings, and these sales account for 98% of the Silicon Valley firm’s revenue.

In response, Schwartz noted that the statement is accurate in the broader sense of “sell.” He further emphasized that Ripple only has two options regarding its XRP holdings- to sell or hold them. However, it has been agreed that selling the tokens is a better choice, as it contributes to decentralization.

“If you define “sell” broadly, then yes, “selling” XRP does account for most of Ripple’s revenue.”

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9. If you define “sell” broadly, then yes, “selling” XRP does account for most of Ripple’s revenue. But realistically, our choices come down to selling XRP or holding XRP and most people think we hold too much.
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— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 13, 2023

Notably, Ripple sells XRP tokens in connection with its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution, which caters to multiple entities across nearly 40 payout markets. Ripple’s report on XRP for Q4 2022 revealed that the technology firm sold $226.31 million worth of XRP in the quarter alone. This figure was $310.68 million in Q3 2022.

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Responding to Schwartz’s latest disclosure, a pseudonymous crypto proponent questioned why Ripple decided to sell off its XRP instead of leveraging it for the Liquidity Hub solution. 

Recall that Ripple recently launched Liquidity Hub, but omitted XRP from the product. The firm cited the regulatory uncertainty surrounding XRP due to the SEC case as the reason behind this.

“There is nothing else Ripple can realistically do with its XRP, and the general consensus is that it would be better if Ripple held less XRP,” Schwartz responded to the individual’s inquiries. 

There is nothing else Ripple can realistically do with its XRP and the general consensus is that it would be better if Ripple held less XRP.

— David “JoelKatz” Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 14, 2023

Ripple’s Sales: A Win for Decentralization 

Being the issuer of XRP, Ripple is the single largest holder of XRP. Data from CoinCarp shows that the first two largest XRP wallets collectively hold over 2.7 billion XRP tokens, representing 3.73% of the asset’s circulating supply. These wallets, and numerous others, are owned by Ripple. Periodically offloading its XRP holdings contributes to decentralization.

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