Ripple’s 2023 sales have caused mixed feelings among members of the Ripple community, with many deeming it bullish for the network, while others see it as detrimental to XRP’s price action.
What happened to the sale of Ripple?
Compared to 2022, Ripple sold 37% more XRP per month in 2023, and a recent tweet by Mr. Huber, an influencer in the XRP community, drew the attention of many to this development.
“Ripple has sold 2.22 billion XRP since the start of 2023. That’s about 315 million a month. About 50% more than the usual 200 million in 2022. Now the crying starts. But I can reassure you. It is not XRP Tards that bought this 2.2 billion XRP and XRP has outperformed anyway. Whatever you feel,” Huber said.
It is important to note that Mr. Huber initially made a mistake regarding last year’s percentage increase in monthly sales, which is 37% against the 50% he initially tweeted. However, he quickly corrected it in a follow-up tweet.
Despite this, 37% remains a lot, and these numbers are bound to raise eyebrows about what is going on with Ripple and how the price of XRP will react to these sales, whether it will cause a massive surge in the price of XRP or a steady decline.
The circulation of XRP lives up to these claims as the number of XRPs in circulation has grown exponentially. XRP’s circulating supply was 50.334 billion at the start of the year, but now stands at 52.554 billion after Ripple’s sales and monthly escrow releases. That’s an additional 2.2 billion XRPs put into circulation since January and a 4.4% increase, and the year is far from over.
In 2021, Ripple sold 2 billion XRPs, which equates to 166 million XRPs sold on average per month. In 2022, it sold 2.75 billion XRPs, an average of 230 million tokens sold per month.
XRP holding steady above $0.7 | Source: XRPUSD on Tradingview.com
In 2023, Ripple has sold 2.22 billion XRPs since the start of the year, which equates to an average of 315 million tokens sold since January. That proves that Ripple has massively increased XRP sales since 2021.
What does this mean for Ripple and its community?
These numbers can be both good and bad news for XRP and its community. On the upside, it shows that there has been more demand for the token over the years, indicating growth and wider adoption of the token.
This question may come primarily from institutional investors, who could no doubt expand XRP’s use cases beyond the cryptocurrency space. Although on the negative side, having so much XRP in circulation without a deflationary mechanism can reduce the value of the token.
For now, the price of XRP appears to be feeling the heat as the altcoin’s price is down 4.89% over the past 24 hours to trade at $0.688. Nevertheless, the daily volume is up 8.69%, indicating an increase in trading activity.
Featured image of Analytics Insight, chart from Tradingview.com