Ripple's Dominance in XRP Holdings
The concentration of capital is a fundamental aspect to consider when analyzing cryptocurrencies and the influence they can exert on prices. In the case of XRP, Ripple is the largest player, controlling the majority of tokens. Specifically, Ripple holds sway over the ten largest addresses where over 42% of all XRP in circulation is stored.
Interestingly, 38.5% of this supply is currently locked in conditional escrow, effectively removed from circulation. These funds are held in Ripple's accounts 9, 10, 11, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28. The remaining 3.5% of the top ten wallets belong to Ripple accounts 29 and 39, with ownership of 1.96 billion and 1.54 billion liquid XRP, respectively.
The Implications
The mentioned 42 billion XRP assets are valued at $23.5 billion, and Ripple has the capability to sell its unlocked reserves at any given time, a move that would undoubtedly impact the token's price.
Ripple maintains its dominance in the 11th and 12th positions among the largest XRP addresses. Ripple accounts 22 and 23 hold 500 million liquid XRP and 1 billion locked tokens, constituting 1.5% of the total emission volume.
Centralized Exchanges and XRP
Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is the largest holder of XRP assets after Ripple. Following closely behind are Uphold, UPbit, and Kraken. However, it's important to note that these are custody accounts belonging to centralized exchanges. In other words, these organizations hold third-party tokens and, unlike Ripple, do not have a direct influence on XRP's price.