Ripple will unlock 1 billion XRP on May 1, 2026 — Sell time? 
Cryptocurrency Apr 27, 2026 Share
Ripple is scheduled to unlock 1 billion XRP from its escrow contracts on Friday, May 1, in line with its monthly release program established way back in 2017.
In short, the practice began with the company placing 55 billion XRP into cryptographically secured escrow on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) in order to improve transparency and supply predictability.
Since then, 1 billion XRP have been released from escrow at the start of each month, helping address concerns regarding Ripple’s own large holdings and avoid sudden market shocks.
Ripple to unlock $1.4 billion worth of XRP
In other words, the upcoming May 1 release represents just another milestone in a schedule expected to run through at least 2027.
Based on the current XRP price of $1.41, the upcoming unlock carries a notional value of about $1.41 billion.
However, given the market’s volatility, the actual figure is most likely going to change by the time of the actual escrow.
24-hour XRP price. Source: Finbold
What does the Ripple escrow mean for XRP prices?
It’s also noteworthy that most of the unlocked XRP does not typically enter circulation immediately, nor do the escrows affect the price to any notable degree.
Indeed, Ripple typically re-locks 60% to 80% of the tokens into new escrow contracts. For example, in March and April 2026, only 200 to 300 million XRP were retained for operational use.
Likewise, the price action remained virtually unaffected, as the cryptocurrency continued to suffer from the heightened volatility that marked the first quarter of 2026.
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Accordingly, the May 1 release is likely to be an unimportant factor in most XRP price predictions.
XRP price analysis
After more than 12 weeks of consolidation, XRP’s underlying fundamentals seem to have improved, but the price action remains weak. In fact, the cryptocurrency risks breaking below its multi-week ascending support, which could extend the ongoing correction and open the door for a move below $1.
More specifically, new data suggests that the asset may still be in the early stages of a macro Elliott Wave correction. While the asset is yet to complete its second wave, the next key level sits around $1.13.
Should this support fail, XRP could slide toward a liquidity zone between $0.90 and $0.73, the latter aligning closely with the 0.702 Fibonacci retracement on the 3-day chart, adding further technical significance.
Ultimately, then, the decision of whether to sell XRP ahead of the escrow ultimately comes down to time horizon and risk tolerance rather than the escrow event itself. That is, for short-term traders, the broader technical setup may carry more weight than the unlock.
With XRP struggling below key resistance levels and facing the risk of a breakdown toward sub-$1 territory, some traders may thus indeed view the current setup as a signal to reduce exposure.
Featured image via Shutterstock