Ripple Labs Unlocks 3 Billion XRP in Q1 2026, Releases 900 Million Tokens into Circulation

Ripple Labs unlocked 3 billion XRP from escrow between January and March 2026 under its monthly release schedule, with approximately 900 million XRP worth $1.278 billion entering circulation as of March 13, onchain data from Whale Alert and XRPSCAN show. The company relocked about 2.1 billion XRP into escrow during the quarter, including 500 million XRP valued at $704.84 million on March 2. Ripple has used escrow-released XRP to fund operations, including GTreasury's January 2026 acquisition of Solvexia and a planned purchase of BC Payments for an Australian Financial Services License, while reportedly planning to repurchase up to $750 million of its shares at a $50 billion valuation.