finbold.com
Continuing with its usual monthly schedule, Ripple is set to release 1 billion $XRP from escrow on February 1, 2026, marking the second token unlock in 2026.
As has so far been the case, however, we’re unlikely to see the full 1 billion $XRP entering circulation.
Namely, under the transparency and supply predictability framework, 1 billion $XRP is unlocked at the start of each month, but Ripple typically allocates a portion of the new batch for operational or liquidity purposes and re-escrows the rest.
With the release now just over a week away, the question is how much $XRP will ultimately reach the market and whether it could influence $XRP price action in early February.
How much $XRP will Ripple unlock in February 2026?
The February unlock follows Ripple’s release of 1 billion $XRP at the beginning of January. Immediately after, Ripple again re-escrowed 70% of the release, or 700,000,000 $XRP in total, substantially limiting the amount entering active circulation.
This pattern has become a core feature of Ripple’s escrow management strategy. That is, while 1 billion $XRP is technically unlocked each month, only a smaller portion is typically retained for operational purposes, while the remainder is placed into new escrow contracts, effectively extending the release schedule and constraining near-term supply growth.
As a result, the predictable nature of these releases, combined with consistent relocking, has historically muted their direct impact on $XRP’s price. Rather, the token tends to move with broader crypto-market conditions and demand dynamics rather than the escrows themselves.
For instance, on the day of the first escrow in 2026, January 1, $XRP was trading near $1.84, extending a gradual decline that had been in place since September 2025. By January 2, it was changing hands at $1.91 following a 2.74% daily gain.
However, the rebound was driven by broader catalysts rather than the escrow event itself. Notably, Japan’s newly enacted 2026 tax reforms had just cut cryptocurrency taxes to 20% from 55% and cleared the launch of the country’s first $XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), which sparked market interest.
Accordingly, headline figures such as “1 billion” and “700 million $XRP” are likely to have a limited impact on the price, which is more bound to altcoin sentiment and technicals.
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