Prev.
In Q1, Ripple’s total XRP sales reached $150.34 million, up from $76.27 million 3 months earlier. But for Ripple, it’s all about meeting demand.
XRP sales by Ripple, its issuer, are being closely scrutinized by investors. In a May 6 note, the company confirms an increase in their volume in the first quarter of 2021.
Over the period, total sales of XRP, net of purchases, reached $150.34 million. They doubled compared to the previous quarter ($76.27 million). But for Ripple, these so-called programmatic sales are justified.
They had been at a standstill for a year, though. However, due to increased customer demand for its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service, Ripple is responding with increased XRP sales.
“Ripple has continued to make sales to support ODL and key infrastructure partners in providing increased XRP liquidity to enhance the ODL experience for certain customers, eliminating the need for pre-funding and enabling instant global payments,” the firm says.
Are these transactions likely to affect the token’s price, which has been rising sharply over the period? Ripple suggests not. How do they do that? By pointing out that its total sales represented only 0.07% of the global volume of XRP.
Ripple brings more information on trends for cryptocurrencies during Q1. First, it observes a significant increase in daily volume for XRP. On average, it was $2.26 billion in Q1 versus $1.61 billion in Q4 2020.
In addition, “XRP volumes posted four of the highest volume days on record. “This trend was further accompanied by a slight decrease in volatility (9% versus 9.6% a quarter earlier).
Nevertheless, volatility remains high. “XRP’s volatility during the quarter was higher than BTC (3.4%) and ETH (4.4%),” Ripple said in its analysis. Yet, at the same time, the firm is seeing an accumulation trend.
The number of XRP whales (holding at least 10 million tokens), increased from 308 to 319 over the period. Similarly, the number of portfolios holding between 1M and 10M XRP increased from 1,125 to 1,196.
This accumulation is not specific to XRP. ETH shows a similar pattern. The number of portfolios holding at least 1,000 ETH increased from 1,178 to 1,253 in the first quarter.