As the market supply of XRP dwindles, experts speculate that Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen’s 2.75 billion XRP could be used to support ODL (now Ripple Payments).
XRPWallets, a community-driven X account dedicated to tracking flows around ODL, discussed this in a recent post. Notably, the latest commentary comes against the backdrop of slow movements in XRP tokens transferred from one of Larsen’s wallets last month.
Chris Larsen moves 50 million XRP
Recall that The Crypto Basic confirmed in mid-September that 50 million XRP had been leaked from the Larsen address. The transaction was notable as it marked the first significant outflow since the wallet was activated 11 years ago.
Some commentators suggested that this transaction could be the result of a security breach, but The Crypto Basic debunks this, citing data from on-chain movements. did. Shortly after, the recipients of 50 million XRP tokens began shuffling their assets and ultimately transferred 20 million to the exchange.
XRP wallets continue to track remaining assets and have since seen more XRP tokens moving to exchanges. Currently, on-chain data shows that only 5 million tokens remain after 10 million XRP recently moved to Binance.
https://x.com/thecryptabasic
Interestingly, these movements are contributing to a sustained decline in XRP supply in the public market, and the XRP Wallets account continues to track this trend. In particular, this resource observes that Ripple is continuously purchasing XRP from the open market to power its Ripple Payments (ODL) service.
Ripple buys XRP for ODL
For context, Ripple acknowledged that it typically buys back XRP from the open secondary market in order to leverage it as a bridging asset for cross-border payments. Crypto Basic revealed in January that approximately 50% of Ripple’s ODL transactions use XRP.
Meanwhile, following its partnership with Ripple for payment services, US-based cryptocurrency exchange Uphold also highlighted purchasing XRP from the open market for these services.
As XRP purchases from the secondary market increase, XRP Wallet speculates that the supply of XRP may continue to deplete on the public market in the future.
As this pattern unfolds, tracking resources suggest that Ripple could look to Larsen’s XRP holdings as a source of XRP tokens for ODL services. However, it is important to note that this is still speculation at the time of writing and there is no official confirmation.
Only 5M left from Larsen’s first 50M. 10 million was transferred to Binance.
With the expected decline in open market XRP available for Ripple to purchase and send to ODL, one of our indicators is that Larsens 275 million XRP could become a viable XRP source for ODL in the near future. It means that there is a gender. https://t.co/46WkPJ6Wx0
— XRP_Liquidity (Larsen/ODL Tracking) (@XRPwallets) October 18, 2024
It is worth mentioning that Ripple’s co-founders, including Larsen, received a portion of the XRP supply from the beginning. While Jed McCaleb has emptied his balance, others like Larsen continue to HODL most of their tokens.
Notably, XRPScan data shows that Larsen currently holds 2.75 billion XRP in six different wallets. Four of these wallets hold 500 million XRP each, and the fifth wallet owns 450 million tokens after transferring 50 million XRP last month. The sixth address holds 300 million tokens.
Disclaimer: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the personal opinions of the author and do not reflect the opinions of The Crypto Basic. We encourage our readers to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
