XRP traded around $2.13 at the time of writing , marking a 13% gain in the last seven days. The price move has renewed attention on XRP’s ownership structure, especially after years of legal uncertainty ended in August 2025. With regulatory clarity in place and institutional interest rising, many market participants now ask a familiar question: who actually owns most of XRP? XRP’s Fixed Supply and Escrow Structure Ripple Labs launched XRP in 2012 with a fixed supply of 100 billion tokens created at inception. Unlike proof-of-work or proof-of-stake networks , XRP relies on no mining or staking process. Ripple placed a large share of its holdings into escrow to manage supply predictability. Each month, Ripple unlocks up to one billion XRP to support liquidity and operations, then returns unused tokens back into escrow. This mechanism shapes XRP’s market structure and influences long-term distribution. Ripple Labs Remains the Dominant Holder Ripple Labs continues to rank as the largest XRP holder. Data from XRP Scan shows Ripple-linked wallets occupy eight of the top ten XRP addresses. These wallets collectively hold about 45 billion XRP in escrow and roughly one billion XRP outside escrow . In total, Ripple controls close to 42% of the total supply, making it the single most influential participant in XRP’s supply dynamics. This concentration often draws scrutiny, yet the escrow system provides transparency. Anyone can track unlock schedules and wallet balances on the public ledger. That visibility distinguishes XRP from many digital assets with opaque issuance or validator rewards. Founders, Exchanges, and Anonymous Whales Beyond Ripple itself, individual founders hold notable balances. Chris Larsen, Ripple’s executive chairman, holds an estimated 2.5 billion XRP across several wallets. That amount represents roughly 4.6% of XRP’s total market cap. At the same time, Ripple is retaining 25% of the total XRP supply with the strategic anticipation that growing demand for network services, specifically cross-border payments, will increase the value of XRP. Crypto exchanges also rank among the largest holders, though these balances reflect customer assets rather than corporate ownership. Bithumb holds about 1.8 billion XRP, while Binance holds roughly 1.75 billion XRP. These exchange wallets facilitate trading and custody, which explains their scale. Several large wallets remain anonymous. One wallet labeled rLD5k36bJkNk… holds around 1.2 billion XRP, while another known as rJ9Ey7HbscSE… controls about 713 million XRP. Blockchain transparency allows tracking of balances, yet pseudonymous addresses limit real-world identification. Who sits behind these wallets? Institutions, funds, or long-term individual holders remain the most common explanations. Ownership Concentration and Whale Activity Ownership concentration remains a defining feature of XRP. The top 100 wallets control roughly 68% of circulating supply, highlighting the influence of large holders. Exchange data shows whale accumulation intensified following the August 2025 court ruling. Larger investors appear to increase positions, while retail activity reflects a mix of accumulation and short-term trading. At the same time, exchange balances have shifted. In 2025, Bithumb entered the top ten XRP wallets after increasing holdings by about 30%, replacing Uphold. Binance’s balance declined slightly, signaling redistribution rather than uniform accumulation. Institutional Growth After Regulatory Clarity Regulatory clarity has reshaped XRP’s ownership profile. Ripple’s settlement with the SEC confirmed that only institutional sales violated securities laws, allowing Ripple to continue broader operations. That outcome encouraged institutional participation and supported new products such as spot XRP ETFs. In November 2025, Ripple raised $500 million from firms including Citadel Securities, Galaxy Digital, and Pantera Capital, pushing its valuation near $40 billion. Partnerships with companies such as Mastercard and ETF approvals have further integrated XRP into regulated financial markets. As institutional interest expands, ownership data shows a clear picture. Ripple still controls the supply framework, exchanges support liquidity, and large holders continue to shape market behavior. The ledger reveals the numbers, but the next phase will test how this distribution evolves under greater institutional participation.
