Ripple Labs Inc., the company behind the XRP token, has released its Q2 XRP Markets report. As part of the report, the company shared its XRP holdings as of March 31, 2023, and June 30, 2023.
Ripple’s XRP Holdings
Ripple revealed that its XRP holdings fall into two categories; wallet-held XRPs and ones in escrow lockups (Ripple releases one billion XRP monthly as part of its monthly token unlock). As of March 31, 2023 (representing the first quarter of the year), Ripple held 5,506,585,918 XRP and a further 42,800,000,013 XRP subject to on-ledger escrow.
Meanwhile, as of June 30, 2023 (representing the second quarter of the year), the company held 5,551,119,094 XRP, and a further 41,900,000,005 XRP were subject to on-ledger escrow.
From the report, Ripple grew its XRP holdings in Q2 as the Q2 figures are slightly up from the Q1 figures. However, its XRP tokens in escrow at the end of Q2 slightly reduced compared to the Q1 figure.
Ripple Addresses Popular Misconceptions
Ripple also addressed some misconceptions from the recent court ruling that XRP isn’t a security. On July 13, 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Ripple in the ongoing case between the crypto company and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The first misconception Ripple addressed in the report was whether or not the ruling was a split decision, as several media outlets had tagged Ripple’s victory again the SEC as a ‘partial victory.’ The crypto firm has debunked this claim by categorically stating that the ruling isn’t a split decision.
Ripple stated that the ruling was a big win for its firm and the crypto industry as it provides regularity clarity not only for Ripple but also to other token issuers, as they can now determine that their tokens, in and out of themselves, are not securities.
The company also stated in the report that its XRP tokens were never a security. It admitted that there are instances where XRP (just like “an orange grove or a gold bar”) can be sold as an investment contract. However, such events don’t “magically transform” the token into a security.
Ripple’s XRP enjoyed a significant rally following the court’s ruling, but there remain concerns that an appeal from the SEC could see the token lose most of its gains from the post-lawsuit rally. As of the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.69, according to data from CoinGeko.
Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com