The XRP Ledger just surpassed 5 million active addresses this week, a huge milestone for the cryptocurrency. According to a social media post from XRP scan, the number of XRP holders and traders has been on a steady rise since the middle of 2023.
With its users now over 5 million, XRP is reiterating its enduring presence among altcoin investors. At the same time, XRP is now posting gains in its 24-hour price after a week of decline among altcoins.
XRP Ledger Surpasses 5 Million Accounts
The XRP Ledger recently reached a major milestone by surpassing 5 million accounts. This impressive growth signals that mainstream adoption and a subsequent price rally may be on the horizon for XRP. At the time of writing, the number of active XRP addresses stands at 5,001,597.
The XRP Ledger has surpassed 5 million active accounts: https://t.co/FNRMYddB5Y pic.twitter.com/twe4sCUcPJ
— XRPScan (@xrpscan) January 8, 2024
XRP has constantly been among the biggest market caps in the crypto industry, but while the userbase of other cryptocurrencies has seen steady growth, XRP remained stagnant around the 4 million mark for over two years.
This should not come as much of a surprise given that Ripple’s lawsuit against the SEC was at its peak during this period, which cast a shadow over the XRP’s ecosystem. However, recent events in the XRP ecosystem led to an increase in activity and at the same time, an increase in active addresses in the XRP Ledger.
XRP Holding Distribution
Now, XRPScan shows that these 5 million addresses collectively contain 99,988,008,711 XRP tokens. However, 40,508,410,417 XRP tokens are currently in escrow, leaving a circulating supply of 59,467,607,004 XRP tokens with a market cap of $30.97 billion.
The holding distribution and top accounts by XRP balance demonstrate that the majority of the tokens are concentrated in a few addresses. Specifically, 40.5 billion XRP, which represents 46.5% of the total supply, is now locked in eight escrow accounts that are controlled by Ripple. At the same time, 4.5 billion XRP tokens are in spendable addresses owned by Ripple.
Token price retraces to $0.56 | Source: XRPUSD on Tradingview.com
Next on the list of top XRP holders is South Korea-based crypto exchange Upbit, with 6.623 billion XRP tokens across 11 wallets, representing 6.12% of the total supply. Binance comes next, holding 2 billion XRP tokens in two wallets.
In terms of individuals, Chris Larsen, Ripple’s current chairman, holds 2.8 billion XRP distributed across six wallets.
Price Rally Imminent?
The current milestone is one of many metrics that point to growth in the XRP ecosystem in 2024. An increase in accounts and overall use of the ledger could drive higher demand for XRP, potentially impacting its price positively.
At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.5714, up by 2.8% in the past 24 hours. If the adoption rate continues, we could see XRP shoot up to the $1 mark this year. A wider bullish sentiment in the wider crypto market could push this price target higher, and we could see the crypto surpassing its all-time high of $3.84 this year.
According to a Wall Street expert, XRP has a great future, as it ticks all the boxes that make it a good investment.
Featured image from Coingape, chart from Tradingview.com
Source: https://bitcoinist.com/xrp-ledger-major-milestone/