Ripple Shocks Market With Second 500M XRP Unlock in July

Key Points:

• Ripple’s split 1B XRP unlock marks shift to flexible, strategic reserve management since March 2025.
• 700M XRP relocked, while 300M XRP funds ODL, ETFs, and other Ripple infrastructure projects.
• XRP trades at $2.23 post-unlock, with analysts watching Ripple’s evolving token release strategy closely.

Ripple Shocks Market With Second 500M XRP Unlock in JulyRipple surprised the market this week by unlocking a second batch of 500 million XRP from its escrow system, completing a full one billion tokens release for July. The latest release occurred on July 4, following an earlier 500 million unlock on July 1

Traditionally, Ripple has released the full monthly allocation in one transaction. The staggered approach seen this month marks a shift in the company’s strategy.

Source: Whale Alert/XThe unlock was tracked by Whale Alert and later confirmed by XRPwallets. Ripple’s move signals an ongoing change in how the firm handles its XRP reserves. According to sources close to the company, this month’s escrow activity is now complete.

Staggered Unlock Signals Policy Change

Ripple appears to be moving away from its previous one-size-fits-all escrow strategy. Since March 2025, the company has adjusted its monthly release mechanism to be more flexible, aligning it with internal planning and market conditions.

Smart contracts still control the escrow process, but Ripple is now using them to deliver tokens in phases rather than a single scheduled release. This gives the company more room to respond to real-time developments in liquidity and product adoption.

Moreover, of the total one billion tokens released this month, 700 million have already been returned to escrow. The remaining 300 million is being directed toward specific ecosystem functions. These include funding for on-demand liquidity (ODL), exchange-traded products, and other infrastructure services.

This allocation model reflects Ripple’s current focus on strategic distribution. By using a portion of the unlocked tokens to support the network’s use cases, Ripple aims to reinforce the value of XRP across multiple platforms and partnerships.

Ripple Holds 36.4 Billion XRP in Escrow

Ripple still holds approximately 36.4 billion XRP in escrow and about five billion in liquid reserves. With changing strategies, Ripple’s current method reflects a shift from routine issuance to targeted deployment.

Analysts say this new format removes predictability from Ripple’s schedule. Market participants can no longer expect identical unlock patterns each month, adding a layer of uncertainty to the circulating supply and market reaction.

Meanwhile, the token’s price was trading at $2.23 at press time, indicating a 2.7% decline in the past 24 hours.

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