1 Billion XRP Unlocked on Nov. 1. The Ledger Shows 700 Million Went Back Into Escrow

On Nov. 1, 2026, two XRP Ledger escrows paid out 500 million XRP each, 1 billion in all. Later that day, the public record shows 700 million XRP went into new escrows that do not open until 2029. This article explains what an escrow unlock is, what the record shows, and what it cannot show.

What an XRP escrow unlock is

An escrow is a lock built into the XRP Ledger. The XRP inside cannot move until a set date. XRPL.org's escrow guide says that once a time-based escrow is ready, anyone can finish it. The XRP then goes to the destination account the escrow named.

In December 2017, Ripple said it locked 55 billion XRP in 55 escrows of 1 billion XRP each. The original schedule set one to open on the first day of each month. Ripple said it would put unused XRP back at the end of the line. XRPL.org's explanation of the escrow says the rules are enforced by the ledger itself.

An unlock makes XRP available to the destination account. It does not mean the XRP was sold.

What the ledger shows for Nov. 1

We read the public ledger directly. Eight accounts that the XRPScan explorer labels as Ripple hold escrows. Here is what happened in those accounts. All times are UTC.

• 12:00:02 a.m.: Two escrows were finished two seconds after their timer ended. That was Oct. 31 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. Each held 500 million XRP, and each paid the account that owned it. A third account sent the two finish requests (first, second), which the ledger's rules allow.
• 5:31 p.m. to 5:35 p.m.: One owner sent 300 million XRP to one account and 200 million XRP to another. The other owner sent 500 million XRP to a third.
• 5:38 p.m. to 5:42 p.m.: Three new escrows were created. One locks 500 million XRP and one locks 100 million until June 1, 2029. A third locks 100 million until July 1, 2029.

That adds up to 700 million XRP back in escrow. The other 300 million XRP stayed outside escrow in the account that received the first transfer. At 1:31 a.m. on Nov. 2 (5:31 p.m. Pacific on Nov. 1), that account had sent nothing out since it received the XRP.

It is a monthly pattern

The same eight accounts created new escrows of exactly 700 million XRP in each month from May through November 2026. That matches what Ripple said in 2017 about returning unused XRP to escrow.

Our ledger tally found 31.1 billion XRP in escrow across those eight accounts when we checked. That figure covers those accounts, not every escrow on the XRP Ledger.

The escrows cannot be pulled back early

We checked all 99 escrows in those eight accounts. None has a cancel date or an unlock condition. Each simply opens on a set date, and XRPL.org's guide says an escrow with no expiration cannot be canceled.

The next unlock is Dec. 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. UTC. That is Nov. 30 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time. It is 1 billion XRP in four escrows. The last escrow now on the ledger opens July 1, 2029, and holds 100 million XRP.

What the record does not show

• What happens to the 300 million XRP. The ledger shows where it sits, not what Ripple plans. In 2017, Ripple said it expected to keep using XRP for incentives to market makers and for sales to institutional buyers. That was a past statement, not a plan for this month.
• Whether anything was sold. Escrow records do not show sales. Some reports describe the full billion as entering circulation. The ledger shows 700 million of it was locked again the same day.
• The link to Ripple. The labels come from XRPScan. The Ripple pages we reviewed do not list the account addresses. The link rests on those labels and on a pattern that matches Ripple's 2017 description.
• Any price effect. Nothing here says how the unlock changes XRP's price, and this article makes no such claim.

Whale Alert's post about the two 500 million XRP releases was reported by U.Today. The ledger records above match those two releases.

How to check it yourself

Open any transaction link above in the XRPL explorer. It shows the amount, the accounts, and the time. To see the balance left in escrow, search an account on an explorer such as XRPScan. Ledger records can be read by anyone. Labels on accounts are not official unless the owner confirms them.

Disclosure: This article is informational coverage of public XRP Ledger records and cited sources, read on Nov. 1 and 2, 2026. The ledger tally is our own count, and account labels come from XRPScan. The featured illustration is AI-generated and conceptual. This article is not financial, legal, or investment advice. AI-assisted research and writing. Cited sources, not AI alone, support the claims.