Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb dumped over 54 million XRP in April. Wallet analysis tied to McCaleb shows he moved 54,215,405 tokens to exchanges during the month, averaging 1.8 million tokens each day
Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb dumped over 54 million XRP in April. Wallet analysis tied to McCaleb shows he moved 54,215,405 tokens to exchanges during the month, averaging 1.8 million tokens each day from April 1-30. The tokens sold for around $11.8 million at XRP's May 1 price.
McCaleb has a long history with digital assets. He built Mt. Gox, the bitcoin exchange that collapsed in 2014, and founded Stellar, a blockchain platform. He struck a deal with Ripple that year to unload his XRP over seven years in controlled portions. That agreement caps what he can sell each month and each year.
When Ripple launched XRP in 2012, the company minted 100 billion tokens. McCaleb held 9.5 billion of them. By early 2020, estimates put his holdings at around 4.7 billion. Ripple still holds his tokens and releases them according to their 2014 pact.
The arrangement prevents a catastrophic dump that would tank the market. Without those caps, McCaleb could flood the market and crater the price. Instead, he sells at a measured pace.
McCaleb has discussed his sales in interviews. In February, he told CoinTelegraph: "I have been transparent from the beginning. The market has known for years that I have been selling my XRP at a slow, steady rate." He frames his disposals as mundane. Other holders sell too, he contends, so his actions merit no special alarm. He says he has no wish to harm XRP's price or Ripple's value.
XRP moved with Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies in April. The token hit $0.17 in late March before climbing over 35% to $0.228 by month-end. May opened sluggish for most crypto assets. After Friday's sprint to $0.228, XRP retreated. Traders saw warning signals pointing toward prices below $0.20.
At time of writing, XRP changed hands at $0.211, down 4.63% against the dollar.
