Ripple bought back more XRP in Q4 2022 than in Q3 leading to reduced XRP sales net of purchases.
Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) XRP sales net of purchases in Q4 2022 totaled about $226.31 million.
The company made this known in its “Q4 2022 Markets Report,” shared on Twitter today.
The Q4 2022 XRP Markets Report is now live–detailing ebbs and flows in the broader crypto market to a ramp up in regulatory actions, as well as significant XRPL technical developments including XLS-20 going live on Mainnet, and the EVM sidechain on Devnet.https://t.co/mxpJAHfZTf
— Ripple (@Ripple) January 30, 2023
Notably, total XRP sales in Q4 surpassed Q3 by nearly $100 million, at about $2.964 billion. However, the company recorded lower sales net of purchases during the quarter due to increased Ripple buybacks. Per the report, it bought back about $2.737 billion worth of XRP compared to about $2.508 billion in Q3. Consequently, net sales declined by about $100 million in Q4.
It is worth noting that the reason for increased total XRP sales is the growing demand for Ripple’s ODL service. For context, the service uses XRP as a bridge currency to facilitate near-instant cross-border payments. The latest report indicates that customers sent 60% of all transactions processed by Ripple in 2022 through ODL, backing recent claims by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
As often cited in reports, the product now serves nearly 40 payout markets, representing almost 90% of the foreign exchange markets. It is a significant bump from just three markets two years prior.
As highlighted in the report, in Q4 2022, the service expanded to France and Sweden through partnerships with Lemonway and Xbaht, respectively, and to Africa through MFS Africa. In addition, the company says it has also expanded its customer base to include companies interested in utilizing its solution for business-related cross-border payments.
Notably, Ripple’s net XRP sales represented only 0.35% of the global XRP volume in Q4, per data from CryptoCompare TopTier volumes. Meanwhile, in keeping with the extended crypto winter, XRP volumes plummeted with the token’s price within the period. Per the report, it is estimated that volumes dropped 40% in Q4 as the XRP price dropped 30%. Consequently, Average Daily Values Traded (ADVs) were about $689 million, representing a 13% quarter-on-quarter (QOQ) decline and a 64% year-on-year (YOY) decline.
In other important related details, outstanding XRP leases by Ripple in Q4 totaled about 57.7 million XRP. Notably, Ripple routinely leases some XRP intended for sale to market makers and other market participants. As reported, Garlinghouse let slip at Davos that the company had about $10 million in FTX exposure from an XRP lease. However, he downplayed it as inconsequential, saying it represented only about 1% of the company’s equity.
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