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Ripple is approaching its 10th scheduled $XRP escrow unlock of 2026, with 1 billion $XRP set to be released on October 1.
The event is now less than three weeks away and will continue a monthly process that has been in place since Ripple introduced its escrow program in 2017.
The upcoming release follows nine previous $XRP unlocks this year. On September 1, Ripple unlocked 1 billion $XRP through three separate escrow transactions, continuing a schedule that has remained largely unchanged for years.
Ripple’s $XRP escrow system is designed to provide transparency over its token holdings. Up to 1 billion $XRP is unlocked on the first day of each month, but Ripple typically does not release the full amount into circulation. Instead, it has historically returned most of the unlocked tokens to new escrow contracts.
Following the September release, approximately 31.28 billion $XRP remained locked in escrow. Subsequent re-escrow transactions pushed the balance back to around 32 billion $XRP, reflecting Ripple’s long-standing practice of relocking most newly unlocked tokens.
As a result, the actual increase in potentially circulating $XRP has generally averaged between 200 million and 300 million tokens per month, rather than the full 1 billion $XRP released from escrow.
Ripple originally placed 55 billion $XRP into escrow contracts to create a predictable release schedule for the market. Because unused tokens are routinely re-escrowed, the program has extended well beyond its original timeline.
Today, roughly one-third of $XRP’s fixed maximum supply of 100 billion tokens remains locked under the escrow system. The timing of each release is enforced by the $XRP Ledger, meaning tokens cannot be accessed before their scheduled unlock date.
$XRP price analysis
Notably, recent $XRP escrow releases have had a limited impact on the cryptocurrency’s market performance.
Despite recurring concerns about supply increases, recent unlocks have not triggered sustained selling pressure.
Instead, $XRP price action depends primarily on broader market sentiment, investor demand, institutional adoption, and developments within the Ripple ecosystem.
By press time, $XRP was trading at $1.37, up 0.68% over the past 24 hours. However, the token remained down about 3% on the weekly timeframe.
From a technical perspective, $XRP remains in a bullish structure, trading above both its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of $1.21 and 200-day SMA of $1.27. This suggests the broader trend remains positive, with both moving averages acting as key support levels.
Meanwhile, the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) stands at 50.7, indicating neutral momentum. $XRP is neither overbought nor oversold, suggesting the market lacks a strong directional bias in the short term.
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