20 Billion XRP in 8 Years: Ripple's Full Release Date May Surprise Community

A 2017 post from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is making the rounds on social media again, reminding the community of the day the crypto company locked away 55 billion XRP in escrow contracts. “Good for supply predictability," said Garlinghouse back then, hoping to build trust in XRP’s long-term market behavior

Eight years later, just under 36 billion XRP remain under lock and key - worth about $131 billion at today’s prices.

Now, all eyes are on how fast those tokens will be released. Based on new data from XRPwallets, a popular community account tracking escrow flows, the timeline for the remaining supply could range from 6 to 10 years depending on how Ripple proceeds

If the company continues releasing 300 million XRP per month - the rough pace it has maintained - escrows would run dry by 2035. But if the release ramps up to 400 million per month by 2026, the finish line could be pulled forward to 2032.

The fastest scenario, though, is a gradual scale-up to 600 million monthly releases by 2028, starting from 400 million in 2026. Signs of a shift already surfaced this month. Ripple split its July escrow unlock into two tranches: 500 million XRP on July 1, followed by another 500 million on July 4

Of that one billion, 700 million was relocked, while 300 million hit circulation - allocated for use cases like on-demand liquidity, institutional infrastructure and potentially exchange-traded products.

Unlike previous years, Ripple does not appear to be running the same predictable unlock-and-relock routine anymore. The decision to use more XRP - without relocking what's left - hints at a strategy more responsive to real-world demand than supply optics.

For XRP holders, this changing approach might signal a quicker path to full market supply than originally planned.