Ripple Labs, the developers of the XRP and XRP Ledger, are set to unlock 1 billion XRP tokens on February 1, 2025, releasing approximately $3.1 billion worth of cryptocurrency into the market.
Details of the Scheduled Unlock
The event is scheduled to occur for the first time on a Saturday from Ripple accounts labeled as 'Ripple (26)’ and 'Ripple (27)’. Unlike previous unlocks from ‘Ripple (24)’ and ‘Ripple (25)’, the February 2025 unlock will involve releasing 400 million and 100 million XRP from the 'Ripple (26)' account, while 500 million XRP will be unlocked from the 'Ripple (27)' account.
Continuation of the Monthly Unlock Schedule
Ripple’s methodical unlock schedule has been in place since 2017, when the company implemented an escrow system to gradually release XRP. Since the crypto's launch in 2012, Ripple retained 80 billion XRP, gradually reducing the reserves to 55 billion. The escrow system was designed to prevent market instability. Historically, Ripple has consistently unlocked 1 billion XRP at the start of each month, likely reserving between 200 million and 470 million XRP from the February 2025 unlock to sell or distribute in the market. This month, Ripple set aside 300 million XRP for operational expenses, partnerships, and development of the XRPL ecosystem.
Other Token Unlocks Scheduled for the Week
According to the latest updates from Tokenomist, a supply-side tokenomics service provider, significant token unlocks are scheduled this week for Optimism (OP), Sui (SUI), ZetaChain (ZETA), and DYDX. These are planned for Friday and Saturday, with a combined total of $330 million worth of tokens to be released. Optimism will unlock tokens worth $46.7 million, representing 2.32% of its circulating supply, while Sui will have the largest unlock with $258.06 million, or 2.13% of its supply released. ZetaChain and DYDX will unlock $19.13 million and $8.76 million respectively, representing 6.98% and 1.15% of their circulating supply. These tokens are reportedly intended for funding various initiatives like ecosystem growth pools, contributor rewards, and liquidity incentives.
The planned token unlocks by Ripple and other crypto projects indicate a continued effort in strategic token management to maintain market stability and support ecosystem development.
