Here’s Why Ripple is Buying $1B in XRP Instead of Just Using Its Escrow

Nietzbux, an XRP community pundit, has shared his theory on why Ripple has decided to lead efforts to buy XRP instead of using its escrow balance.

For context, Bloomberg recently reported that Ripple was looking to lead a fundraising effort in an attempt to raise up to $1 billion for the purchase of XRP tokens. While the firm has not officially confirmed this report, the excitement has already engulfed the XRP community. 

Ripple Jumping on the XRP Treasury Trend

Interestingly, such a move could build on the existing trend surrounding XRP treasuries, as multiple firms have already shown interest in establishing these treasuries. One such company is VivoPower, which raised $19 million earlier this month to expand its XRP treasury. Firms like Everything Blockchain and Trident Digital have revealed plans to establish XRP treasuries.

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With Ripple looking to jump on the trend, as previously speculated by some industry leaders, the move could boost confidence in XRP. However, if Ripple is establishing an XRP treasury, wouldn’t the most logical avenue be to use some of the tokens from its escrow accounts, which currently hold about 35 billion XRP?

Possible Reason Ripple is Not Leveraging Its Escrowed XRP

Nietzbux confirmed that multiple XRP community members have asked this question, but suggested there could be several reasons the blockchain payments firm could be taking the fundraising route. He then presented one factor but confirmed that it was mere speculation. 

There are several reasons Ripple would buy new XRP with new capital for a treasury, yet many ask, why not just move all from the escrow?

A purely speculative factor: maybe the pre-allocation theory is correct and Ripple has less XRP in the escrow than the public thinks.

— nietzbux (@nietzbux) October 17, 2025

Specifically, the pundit called attention to a theory popularized by certain community pundits regarding pre-allocation of Ripple’s escrow holdings to certain institutions. This theory suggests that Ripple may have entered deals that effectively sold most of its escrow holdings to institutions. As such, Ripple may not be the sole owner of all the 35 billion XRP currently in escrow.

According to Nietzbux, if this theory is correct, then Ripple could actually have less XRP than the public believes. He suggests this could be the reason the firm chose to lead a fundraising effort to fill up its proposed XRP treasury instead of just using its escrowed tokens. However, it bears mentioning that the Bloomberg report indicated that Ripple would leverage some of the XRP in escrow for the treasury.

Reacting to this, a commenter argued that Ripple has made its escrow balance public and it confirms the firm’s holdings. However, Nietzbux suggested that while Ripple may have sold most of the tokens to institutional clients, they could be storing them in escrow for these clients. Nonetheless, this remains highly speculative at press time.

Whether Ripple still owns all its escrowed tokens or not, the excitement surrounding the proposed treasury has been palpable. In July, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley pondered if, within 12 months, Ripple could pivot into an XRP treasury firm. Last November, Nietzbux also questioned when Ripple would start buying XRP to build a treasury. This may be fast becoming a reality.