Overview
- Ripple unlocked 1 billion XRP on Jan. 1, 2026 through three transactions executed within seconds around midnight UTC.
- A sarcastic memo falsely claiming multi‑billion XRP sales was attached by the initiating wallet and did not come from Ripple.
- The XRP Ledger allows any account to submit EscrowFinish at release time and to attach permanent, publicly visible memos.
- Observers report 300 million and 200 million XRP were sent to two large wallets, with 500 million allocated to Ripple’s address, and no re‑escrow or subsequent movements had occurred at press time.
- The third‑party initiator paid a tiny fee of roughly 0.000012 XRP, market volatility remained moderate, and community analysts issued clarifications to counter misinformation.