finbold.com
Ripple is on track to release $XRP worth about $1.5 billion next week as the asset witnesses increased investor interest.
The October 1 release will unlock 1 billion $XRP from Ripple’s escrow accounts as part of the company’s long-running supply management program.
The upcoming release is part of Ripple’s escrow system established in 2017, when the company locked 55 billion $XRP into a series of on-ledger escrow contracts designed to make token distributions predictable.
According to $XRP Ledger escrow data, approximately 31.98 billion $XRP remains locked. The next scheduled release is set for October 1, when up to 1 billion $XRP will become available. Based on $XRP’s current price, the unlocked tokens are worth roughly $1.54 billion.
Although the monthly release often attracts attention due to its size, Ripple has historically returned a substantial portion of the unlocked $XRP to new escrow contracts.
As a result, the actual increase in circulating supply is typically lower than the headline 1 billion $XRP figure.
Still, the event remains closely watched because any increase in circulating supply can create short-term selling pressure if demand fails to absorb the additional tokens.
Conversely, a muted market reaction could reinforce the view that investors have already priced in the scheduled release.
$XRP whale accumulation on the rise
The scheduled unlock comes as large investors continue increasing their $XRP exposure. In this regard, data shared by crypto analyst Ali Martinez in an X post on September 25 indicates that whales accumulated more than 470 million $XRP over five days, equivalent to about $724 million at current market prices.
Santiment data cited by Martinez shows whale holdings climbed from roughly 12.37 billion $XRP on September 21 to approximately 12.80 billion $XRP by September 24.
The trend suggests some large holders are positioning for further upside despite the approaching supply release.
At the same time, Martinez noted that $XRP continues to form an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the daily chart, a technical setup often monitored for potential breakout opportunities.
$XRP technical outlook
At the current price of $1.54, $XRP is trading well above its 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of roughly $1.31 and its 200-day SMA of about $1.28.
When an asset trades above both moving averages, it generally indicates buyers remain in control of the medium- and long-term trend. The fact that the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA further supports the bullish outlook and points to sustained upward momentum.
Meanwhile, $XRP’s 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands near 64, placing the token in neutral-to-bullish territory.
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