Ripple locks 700 million XRP into escrow: first monthly release in 2026

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Ripple just locked 700 million XRP in escrow Original Link: Ripple has begun the January monthly XRP release as scheduled at the start of 2026. Consistent with previous practices, the company released 1 billion XRP from escrow, but the vast majority did not enter circulation.

Specifically, the company locked 70% of this release (i.e., 700 million XRP) back into long-term storage. The remaining 300 million tokens are used to promote liquidity and ecosystem expansion, and any unused portion may be returned to escrow to prevent market volatility.

With this new release, the total circulating supply of XRP has reached 65.78 billion, and according to XRPSCAN data, 34.18 billion XRP are in escrow.

First Ripple XRP Escrow Release in 2026

The first escrow release of Ripple in 2026 is similar to that in December 2025, when about 1 billion XRP were released, of which 70% were subsequently re-locked in three tranches.

Although numbers like “1 billion” and “700 million” seem impressive at first glance, historically, such events often have limited price reactions.

On the day of release, the asset traded close to $1.84, continuing the stable downward trend since September 2025.

As of press time on January 2, the price has improved to $1.91, with a daily increase of 2.74%.

However, this slightly improved market condition is not solely due to yesterday’s escrow release. For example, Japan’s new crypto tax reform in 2026 will reduce the cryptocurrency tax rate from 55% to 20%, and the country has approved its first XRP ETF, opening the door for further retail and institutional investment.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency has recovered 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $1.87 and shows a bullish MACD crossover, indicating solid technical support behind its strong performance.