Ripple unlocked a billion XRP and the price kept climbing

One billion tokens hit the open market on September 1. Instead of dumping, XRP rallied. The monthly escrow release that once spooked retail traders has become background noise for an asset that just logged its strongest on-chain quarter in years. Summary Ripple released 1 billion XRP (worth roughly $1.38 billion) from escrow on September 1, 2026, reducing locked supply to 31.28 billion tokens. XRP climbed 28.5% in August, its best August since 2021, touching $1.70 before settling near $1.42, absorbing the escrow release without flinching. Payment volume on the XRP Ledger surged 521% in a single week in late August, driven by larger institutional-scale transfers rather than retail activity. Spot XRP ETFs, approved in March 2026, pulled in $153.55 million in August alone, with $150.28 million arriving in the final two weeks. RLUSD, Ripple’s stablecoin, crossed $2.32 billion in market cap, cementing its position as the dominant stablecoin on XRPL and a growing force on Ethereum. For eight years, Ripple’s monthly escrow unlock has played out like clockwork. On the first day of every month, the XRP Ledger’s built-in escrow contracts release up to 1 billion XRP into Ripple-controlled wal...