Ripple Releases $1.38 Billion in XRP Amid Explosive Statements from CTO Emeritus

Ripple released 1 billion XRP from its escrow contracts on May 1, 2026, valued at $1.38 billion at current prices.

Meanwhile, Ripple’s CTO emeritus, David Schwartz, turned to X to debunk entrenched myths about alleged secret mechanisms to boost the token’s price.

Ripple Executes Its Monthly Release of 1 Billion XRP from Escrow

The monthly release is an automated mechanism by which Ripple has been releasing 1 billion XRP from its escrow accounts since December 2017. The system aims to provide transparency regarding the total supply and prevent massive sell-offs that could affect price stability.

The operation on May 1st consisted of four main transactions, according to Whale Alert. The movements were for 200 million , 300 million , 100 million , and 400 million XRP respectively, all verified from addresses associated with the US company.

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Historically, Ripple returns between 70% and 80% of these funds to new escrow contracts. This means that 
the typical net release ranges from 200 to 300 million XRP entering the circulating market in each scheduled monthly cycle. The mechanism serves a threefold purpose.

• On the one hand, it avoids sudden sales that would generate panic among investors.
• On the other hand, it provides controlled liquidity for partnerships, institutional operations and ecosystem development.
• Finally, it offers a predictable timeline that the market can anticipate in advance.

The impact on price is usually moderated precisely because of the relocking practice. Traders already factor these releases into their technical analyses, which neutralizes any significant bearish effect resulting from the temporary increase in the circulating token supply.

“Another month, another massive unlock that will probably just stay there while the price does absolutely nothing,” noted enthusiast Steffan on X.

David Schwartz reveals key insight about the price of XRP

David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO emeritus and lead architect of the XRP Ledger, publicly dismissed the existence of any secret tool capable of artificially inflating the token’s price.

“Perhaps there was a time when one could semi-plausibly argue that Ripple had some easy way to massively boost the price of XRP forever, but was just waiting for the right moment to maximize one thing or another. […] Circumstances have changed so much that it’s hard to imagine that we’ve kept this magic switch for so long and it’s still just waiting to be flipped[…],” Schwartz wrote.

After years of regulatory scrutiny, operational transparency, and ecosystem evolution, that narrative became completely untenable. Schwartz emphasized that Ripple has been open about its strategy, reasoning, and ultimate goals.

His comments directly address recurring questions from the community about products like Ripple Prime and Treasury. Schwartz debunked the idea that these services are designed to drive massive XRP transactions and push the price to extreme levels through occasional artificial manipulation.

“If there were a few very rich, very rational people who truly believed there was a 1% chance that XRP could reach $10,000 in 10 years, they would bid the price of XRP at least at $20 today. Why aren’t they? Conspiracy?” Ripple’s CTO emeritus pointed out in another post.

Schwartz had also previously addressed the recurring proposal to burn the remaining 33 billion XRP held in escrow. Citing the Stellar case in 2019, where over 55 billion tokens were burned without any lasting impact on the price, Schwartz characterized the measure as a waste of funds with no real benefit.

His final message was clear and consistent with his track record. The future of XRP depends on practical adoption in cross-border payments, decentralized finance, and real-world use cases, not on artificial price manipulations that promise quick, short-term returns.

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