The discussion regarding the supply of XRP has resurfaced after an in-depth post on X by an XRP investor known as Lord Belgrave, who provided a perspective on X beyond the normal conversation. XRP tokens are locked in escrow.
According to XRP investors, Ripple’s escrow mechanism is A purposefully built system It has been designed for years with institutional deployment in mind, and more details may emerge in the near future as NDAs begin to expire.
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Why Ripple created XRP escrow in the first place
Lord Belgrave’s statement Our study of the Ripple escrow system addresses questions about how the XRP supply is managed, why escrow exists in its current form, and what role escrow could play as Ripple’s infrastructure matures.
The argument is that Ripple’s escrow was not internally designed as a pool of tokens just waiting for optimal market distribution. In the discussion he describes, escrowed XRP was presented as a locked supply managed by a definitive release schedule and multi-year planning phase.
The emphasis was on predictability and control, with supply aligned to financial institutions’ readiness rather than short-term trading trends. Although not publicly transferred or disclosed, a portion of the supply was considered conceptually reserved for future system deployment.
Lord Belgrave claims these conversations took place under strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and involved institutions in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. These institutions include central banks, systemically important financial institutions, multilateral institutions, the International Monetary Fund, and the Bank for International Settlements.
Ripple introduced an escrow system in 2017 to bring transparency and discipline to the XRP supply. XRP is Total supply is 100 billion tokens. However, not all of these tokens were in circulation at the time of launch.
Approximately 55 million XRP will be locked in an escrow agreement on the ledger during the launch, and 1 billion XRP will be released every month. However, Ripple has also relocked around 700-800 million XRP, and only 200-300 million XRP is effectively valid. Published monthly. This rules-based approach has been the basis of XRP tokenomics for several years now.
NDAs, the timing of disclosure, and what happens next
Lord Belgrave also noted changes in regulatory language as Ripple’s regulations evolve, which he interpreted as a sign that the long-standing NDA may be nearing the disclosure stage. The system is now moving from the preparation phase to the active deployment phase, so that the previously secured liquidity becomes operational.
That interpretation was fulfilled Reply from Vincent Van Code, Another popular XRP enthusiast in X. In his view, Although many NDAs exist, disclosure is not automatic. He explained that information is typically released only when both parties formally agree to share certain sensitive details.
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Seen from this perspective, the NDA is intended to ensure that Ripple does not disclose its trading partners and escapes regulatory scrutiny until compliance checks, audits, and approvals are completed. Future transparency by Ripple and its partners is likely to follow a coordinated decision rather than simply the expiration of the NDA.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
