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The first Ripple escrow unlock for 2026 has released billion tokens, but the transactions come with a controversial end-of-year message.
While 2025 ended with a bearish price action for XRP despite impressive growth in institutional adoption, the new year, 2026, appears to have begun with controversy within the XRP community.
Ripple Escrow Releases 1B XRP for January 2026
Notably, XRP community members were welcomed into the new year with Ripple’s first escrow unlock, which released 1 billion XRP worth $1.84 billion at press time across three unequal transactions. Interestingly, all three transactions occurred around the same time, at midnight today, being just seconds apart.
Specifically, one escrow transaction released 300 million XRP tokens worth $552 million to the Ripple (28) wallet. In addition, a second transaction unlocked 200 million XRP tokens worth $368 million into Ripple (28). Overall, this address received 500 million XRP tokens valued at $920 million.
Meanwhile, around the same time, the third transaction released 500 million XRP to the Ripple (9) wallet. Cumulatively, both addresses received 1 billion XRP worth $1.84 billion from escrow, consistent with the typical Ripple escrow release schedule.
At press time, neither of the two wallets has moved the tokens, each holding 1 billion XRP, having retained 500 million XRP from previous unlocks. Also, Ripple has not relocked any tokens into escrow.
Controversial End-of-Year Message
However, what captured the attention of the XRP proponents and the broader crypto community was the memo across the three transactions. Specifically, during the January 2026 XRP escrow unlock, the individual who initiated the release posted a message designed to mislead readers into thinking it came directly from Ripple.
In the post, the person claimed that Ripple had enjoyed a strong 2025 by selling large amounts of XRP, totaling more than $8 billion, to fund multiple company acquisitions. The message went on to suggest that Ripple plans even heavier XRP sales in 2026 to expand its operations, pursue additional profitable takeovers, and concentrate on the growth of RLUSD.
The individual presented these claims as a sarcastic message of gratitude to long-term XRP holders, implying that their continued support enabled Ripple’s strategy and benefited Ripple shareholders.
However, it is important to note that the message did not originate from Ripple itself. Instead, the author sought to exploit the fact that many market participants do not realize Ripple does not control the escrow release triggers, using this to impersonate the company and mock the familiar “know what you hold” slogan often used within the XRP community.
Since 2017, Ripple’s wallets have been the designated recipients of escrow unlocks, but the release can be initiated by any party once the scheduled time arrives. Moreover, the wallet initiating the release has full discretion to attach any transaction memo it chooses.