A recent analysis by blockchain engineer Vincent Van Code shows that the real supply of XRP tokens is significantly smaller than commonly assumed. His research indicates that over 85% of the total 100 billion tokens are locked, lost, or held in dormant wallets.
Real Supply of XRP
Vincent Van Code claims that Ripple controls about 35.9 billion XRP in escrow. Although 1 billion tokens are released monthly, the company typically relocks nearly 800 million back into escrow, limiting the actual inflow of XRP into the open market.
Impact of Dormant Wallets and DeFi
Institutional investors and early adopters reportedly hold between 20 and 25 billion XRP in dormant wallets that remain mostly inactive. These holdings rarely impact daily liquidity. Furthermore, the rise of decentralized finance on the XRP Ledger is locking up more tokens; current data from XRPScan shows over 12 million XRP committed to automated market maker pools.
Conclusion
Van Code’s analysis indicates that XRP's liquid supply is far smaller than commonly believed. This limited float could lead to noticeable supply pressure across markets as demand grows.
The limited supply of XRP combined with growing demand may lead to notable pressure on supply across markets.
