A deep analysis from software engineer Vincent Van Code – a strong advocate for XRP – has just unveiled a remarkable fact: although the total supply of XRP is 100 billion tokens, only about 12 to 15 billion XRP are actually available for business applications such as payments, liquidity provision, and cross-border remittances. This figure corresponds to only 12-15% of the total supply, raising a significant question about the actual liquidity of XRP in the market.
1. Ripple's Escrow: The Largest Locked Supply
Ripple currently holds approximately 35.9 billion XRP in escrow accounts, with plans to release 1 billion XRP each month. However, in practice, Ripple often locks back about 800 million XRP each month, making a large portion of this supply illiquid.
In addition, Ripple holds 4.9 billion XRP outside of escrow for strategic goals such as company acquisitions, rewarding partners, or incentive programs, making this amount of tokens not truly available in the free market.
2. XRP Lost or No Longer Accessible
Similar to Bitcoin, XRP is also affected by wallets that have lost access or been forgotten from the early stages. It is estimated that around 5 to 8 billion XRP may have been permanently lost due to users forgetting their private keys or no longer having access to their wallets.
Additionally, large institutional investors, including Ripple founders and early holders, are believed to be holding between 20 to 25 billion XRP in a "long-term hold" state, hardly participating in trading or liquidity activities.
3. DeFi on the XRP Ledger: Increasing Liquidity Locks
The emergence of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and automated market makers (AMMs) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is ushering in a new era for XRP. Although still in its early stages, 12.48 million XRP have now been locked in liquidity pools, and this number is expected to rise sharply as the ecosystem expands.
Such long-term liquidity locking reduces the number of XRP available for immediate trading, contributing to the tightening of actual supply.
4. Only 12 to 15 Billion XRP Are Actually "Available" for the Market
When aggregating all these factors – from locked escrow, lost tokens, long-term holdings to tokens locked in DeFi – Van Code concludes that only about 12 to 15 billion XRP are truly available for immediate payment purposes, providing liquidity and CBDC solutions.
This creates a supply scarcity scenario, especially if real-world applications like on-demand liquidity (ODL), CBDC payments, and asset tokenization continue to develop strongly.
5. Increased Demand - Tight Supply: Prices May React Strongly
With the actual supply being much lower than imagined, any surge in demand from institutions or business users could lead to a rapid repricing of XRP.
"Prices must rise to meet demand" – Van Code concludes.
As the market becomes more aware of this actual liquidity scarcity, XRP could experience a sudden price surge if real demand explodes – similar to what happened with Bitcoin in previous cycles.
Conclusion: XRP – A Hidden Gem Amidst the New Financial Stability Wave
In light of this analysis, XRP is no longer just a popular token – it is emerging as a strategically valuable payment infrastructure, where liquidity is not as infinite as many believe.
With the actual supply accounting for only 12-15% of the total issued amount, XRP possesses one of the most important characteristics in investing: scarcity.
If you are looking for a coin with high practical application potential, backed by strong enterprise support and tightly controlled supply, then XRP deserves to be on your long-term strategic radar.