The Ripple CTO, David Schwartz, has confirmed that the company can sell the rights to receive XRP tokens locked in its escrow accounts.
He made this clarification during a community discussion that began after software engineer Vincent Van Code raised questions about how crypto data trackers report XRP’s circulating supply compared to Bitcoin’s.
Pundit Highlights Tracking Bias
During the conversation, Van Code highlighted how tracking resources like CoinMarketCap exempt the XRP tokens in Ripple’s escrow accounts but include Bitcoin tokens in Satoshi’s wallet. According to him, if they excluded the 1 million BTC in the Satoshi wallet, Bitcoin’s market cap would drop by about 15%.
Interestingly, CoinMarketCap actually tracks only 60 billion XRP tokens in circulation, and not 65 billion. This gives XRP a market cap of $157 billion at $2.62 per token, instead of $170 billion.
However, another investor replied that Bitcoin includes all mined coins in its calculation because those coins can technically be sold at any time. The investor then asked if Van Code was suggesting Ripple could liquidate its entire escrow at once, and whether it made sense to assume that possibility when comparing the two assets.
Ripple CTO Confirms Ripple Could Sell Escrow Rights
Responding, Schwartz clarified Ripple’s position. He said Ripple can sell the right to receive XRP from escrow or even sell the accounts where those tokens will eventually be released.
Ripple could sell the right to receive the tokens released from escrow or even sell the accounts the escrows complete into. But the XRP still can't circulate until their release dates.
— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) October 27, 2025
Nonetheless, he emphasized that the XRP itself cannot enter circulation until the scheduled release dates. His response confirmed that while Ripple can’t use its escrowed XRP early, it can legally transfer or sell the rights associated with it.
For context, data from XRPScan shows that Ripple currently holds around 35 billion XRP in escrow, valued at about $92 billion. This large reserve has persistently led to discussions in the XRP community.
Specifically, some pundits have suggested that Ripple could sell the rights to these tokens to institutional buyers. Meanwhile, others have speculated about the company possibly transferring the tokens to the U.S. government to establish an official XRP reserve.
Schwartz’s comments add weight to these speculations by confirming that such transactions are technically possible, even if Ripple has not confirmed any plans to pursue them.
Moreover, with Evernorth planning to buy $1 billion worth of XRP to create an XRP reserve, Ripple noted it would support the effort but failed to leverage its escrow tokens. Interestingly, pundit Nietzbux speculated that this might be because Ripple has already sold the rights to much of its escrow to institutional investors.