The vexed issue of Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb’s XRP reserves is coming to an end. If he continues to sell XRP at the current rate, his once bulging wallet will finally be empty by mid-July at the latest.
Ripple (XRP) has been accompanied for years by the discussion whether the sales of co-founder Jed McCaleb can influence the price curve. After all, McCaleb had secured an allocation of 12 percent of all XRP when he left Ripple in 2013, totaling 9.5 billion XRP. Since then, a contract regulates that McCaleb is only allowed to sell a certain amount of XRP per day, which corresponds to a maximum of 1.5 percent of the daily volume of the entire global trade with XRP.
That’s why many XRP experts regularly look at the calculations of the website “Jed Balance“, which counts down in real time how much reserves McCaleb still holds and at what pace he brings them to the market. And lo and behold, just about 74 million XRP McCaleb currently holds (here his wallet) and he’s recently been selling a good 7.3 million XRP every day. If he maintains this rhythm, the “money machine” will be over on July 10. If averages of the last month or quarter are used, McCaleb’s wait for zero XRP is delayed to mid to late July.
On Twitter, one user even thinks that McCaleb will finally end his XRP sales as early as next week. Since his limit for daily XRP trades is calculated weekly based on the past seven days of global trading, such a scenario would also be within the realm of possibility, but is so far not backed by facts. Either way, there is nothing to suggest that McCaleb is still interested in holding a reserve in XRP. He has always affirmed that he does not want to harm Ripple and XRP and has – as far as is known – scrupulously adhered to the negotiated rules.
Also, the theory that McCaleb’s sales would have an impact on XRP’s price curve never proved true upon closer analysis. A note here: McCaleb was not impressed by ups and downs in XRP over the long periods, but – with shorter breaks – almost always threw his daily limit on the market. The 47-year-old no longer comments publicly on Ripple anyway, focusing instead on his work at Stellar (XLM). McCaleb also launched this altcoin as a co-founder and is currently listed as “chief architect” in the Stellar Foundation.
Conclusion: The McCaleb chapter at Ripple is about to be closed
At $20 billion, McCaleb’s fortune is estimated and his XRP sales have contributed billions to that. His separation agreement from Ripple is likely to go down in crypto history as one of the most lucrative ever. McCaleb may be watching the drama surrounding XRP over the ongoing case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from the sidelines; in any case, he did not appear on the list of those personally sued. The XRP investors who scolded McCaleb during weak price performance are likely to run out of excuses in July. Because the XRP without sales of McCaleb suddenly puts down a rally, is not to be expected for many reasons.
Leave a Reply