XRP is a digital coin that exists only as an entry on a shared public record of who owns what, called the XRP Ledger. All 100 billion XRP were created at the start.
New coins are never mined, meaning no computers earn them by solving puzzles, as Bitcoin miners do.
What is XRP? XRP is the digital coin of the XRP Ledger, a shared public record of who owns what. The ledger's software is public, so anyone can run a copy.
All 100 billion XRP were created at the start. No new coins are created later, unlike Bitcoin, where miners earn them. Ripple, a technology company, held 36.8% of all XRP on 30 September 2026.
In July 2023, a US judge ruled that Ripple's direct sales of XRP to big investors were securities offerings. These are investment sales that US law says must be registered first. Its exchange sales were not.
Funds that hold XRP itself have traded on US stock exchanges since 13 November 2025.
What is XRP and what is it used for?
XRP is the coin that powers the XRP Ledger. A ledger is a record of who owns what. This one is a blockchain, a record that many computers around the world copy and check, so there is no single master copy.
The ledger is open-source, meaning its code is public, so anyone can run a server. Three developers built it from 2011 to early 2012, according to xrpl.org, the ledger's documentation site. XRP is used in cross-border payments, which move money between countries, according to xrpl.org and Ripple's payments page.
Is Ripple the same thing as XRP?
No. XRP is the coin. The XRP Ledger is the network that records it. Ripple is a technology company.
In September 2012, two of the ledger's builders and Chris Larsen formed the company now called Ripple. They gave it 80 billion XRP. The xrpl.org timeline shows 20 billion going to the founders. It also says Ripple has regularly sold XRP since.
How is XRP different from Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana?
Bitcoin is digital money capped at 21 million coins, according to the Bitcoin project's website. Its miners are computers that compete to add the next batch of records, called a block, and earn new coins as a reward.
Ethereum runs programs as well as payments. It uses proof of stake, a system where coin owners lock up ether as a deposit for the right to check new blocks. According to ethereum.org, one is picked in each 12-second slot.
Our hub guide to Bitcoin vs Ethereum vs Solana also lists Solana as proof of stake.
XRP has no mining. One company holds a large share. See what Bitcoin is and what Ethereum is.
How does the XRP Ledger agree on transactions?
Each participant picks a list of trusted validators, servers run by different parties that check transactions. According to xrpl.org, a new ledger version, a fresh page of records, is created when 80% of the validators agree.
Why does the XRP total keep falling?
Every transaction destroys a small amount of XRP. The minimum is 10 drops, a drop being one-millionth of an XRP. According to xrpl.org, the destroyed XRP leaves the supply, and the charge protects the ledger from spam, meaning floods of junk transactions.
On 8 November 2026, the total was 99,985,561,663 XRP. That is 14,438,337 XRP below 100 billion, or 0.014%. Chart 1 shows the XRP destroyed in each year.
Source: XRP Ledger, read on 8 November 2026; YX Insights
The fall peaked in 2017 at 3.71 million XRP. It happened in every one of the 14 years shown, counting 2026 only to 8 November.
How is XRP used in cross-border payments?
A cross-border payment moves money between countries. The XRP Ledger has a built-in exchange for swapping currencies. According to xrpl.org, a payment from US dollars to Mexican pesos can go from dollars to XRP, then to pesos, when that costs less than a direct swap.
Ripple's payments page says such payments settle, meaning the transfer is complete, in 3 to 5 seconds. A second route uses a stablecoin, a coin built to hold a steady value of one US dollar. Ripple's is called RLUSD.
What is XRP escrow?
An escrow locks coins until a set time. The XRP Ledger releases locked XRP on schedule. In May 2017, Ripple announced that it would lock 55 billion XRP, releasing 1 billion each month.
Ripple publishes its holdings each quarter. On 30 September 2026, it held 36,809,481,946 XRP, of which 31,700,000,000 sat in escrow. It listed the other 63,176,123,712 XRP as distributed, meaning outside its holdings.
Source: Ripple XRP page; XRP Ledger
Chart 2 shows that Ripple held 36.8% of all XRP on 30 September 2026, mostly in escrow. Ripple's two figures add to the ledger's total at the close of that day, 99,985,605,658 XRP, which is higher than the 8 November total.
What did the SEC case against Ripple decide?
The SEC is the US investment regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission. A security is an investment that US law says must be registered with the SEC before sale.
On 22 December 2020, the SEC sued Ripple and two of its leaders, Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen. The complaint alleged that they sold over 14.6 billion XRP without registering the sales.
The question was whether the sales were "investment contracts", a kind of security. That means an arrangement where buyers pay in expecting profit from someone else's work. On 13 July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled on each group of sales and wrote that XRP, "as a digital token, is not in and of itself" an investment contract.
The SEC won on sales to institutional buyers, big investors such as funds, under written contracts. The defendants won on three other groups, including its exchange sales by trading algorithms.
7 August 2024: the court entered a final judgment with a $125,035,150 civil penalty, a fine, and an injunction, a court order. The SEC states the injunction permanently bars Ripple from violating Section 5 of the Securities Act, the law that requires sales of securities to be registered.
October 2024: both sides appealed, asking a higher court to review it.
May 2025: the SEC and Ripple asked the court to dissolve, meaning cancel, the injunction. The court refused on 15 May and 26 June 2025.
8 August 2025: the SEC's order states both sides agreed to drop their appeals, so the injunction remains in effect.
Which funds hold XRP?
A spot XRP fund is an exchange-traded fund (ETF), a fund whose shares trade on a stock exchange, that holds XRP itself. The table shows each of the five US funds with its ticker, a short trading code, its exchange, and its first day of trading.
Fund | Ticker (trading code) | Exchange | First day of trading | Source of the date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Canary XRP ETF | XRPC | Nasdaq | 13 November 2025 | Annual report for 2025 |
Bitwise XRP ETF | XRP | NYSE Arca | 20 November 2025 | Annual report for 2025 |
Grayscale XRP Trust ETF | GXRP | NYSE Arca | 24 November 2025 | Quarterly report to 30 September 2026 |
Franklin XRP ETF | XRPZ | NYSE Arca | 24 November 2025 | Annual report to 31 March 2026 |
21Shares XRP ETF | TOXR | Cboe BZX | 11 December 2025 | Annual report for 2025 |
US spot XRP funds that began trading in November and December 2025. Source: each fund's filing with the SEC
Canary's fund started first, on 13 November 2025. The other four began by 11 December 2025.
What are the risks of XRP?
Ripple holds 36.8% of all XRP. The injunction against it remains in effect. If more than 20% but under 80% of a participant's trusted validators fail, the network stops making progress, meaning it confirms no new transactions, according to xrpl.org. Bitwise's launch notice says its fund "has the potential for significant volatility", meaning large price swings.
What should I take away about XRP?
XRP is a coin on a shared ledger that agrees on transactions without mining. A court split Ripple's sales into those that were securities offerings and those that were not.
Is XRP a candidate for our portfolio?
Our Macro & Megacaps Systematic Portfolio is a rules-based portfolio we run. It may hold a crypto sleeve, a small group of up to five crypto-linked names held alongside its other holdings. XRP is one candidate for that sleeve.
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Common questions about XRP
How much XRP does Ripple hold?
Ripple held 36,809,481,946 XRP on 30 September 2026, which is 36.8% of all XRP, according to its own XRP page. Of that, 31,700,000,000 XRP sat in escrow, locked and released on a schedule. The page lists a further 63,176,123,712 XRP as distributed, meaning outside Ripple's holdings.
Is XRP a security?
Not in itself, on the court record. On 13 July 2023, Judge Torres held that XRP, as a digital token, is not in and of itself an investment contract. Ripple's direct sales to institutional buyers were securities offerings, but its exchange sales were not. The final judgment of 7 August 2024 included a $125,035,150 penalty.
How many XRP are there?
No more than 100 billion. The total falls as transactions destroy coins. On 8 November 2026, the total was 99,985,561,663 XRP, which is 14,438,337 below 100 billion. No new XRP can be created, because all 100 billion existed at the start.
Can I buy a fund that holds XRP?
Yes. Five US funds hold XRP itself. Their shares trade on stock exchanges. Canary's fund, ticker XRPC, began trading on Nasdaq on 13 November 2025, the earliest of the five. Bitwise, Grayscale, Franklin, and 21Shares followed by 11 December 2025.
How fast is the XRP Ledger?
About 4 seconds. A new page of records closed every 3.96 seconds on average over the 10,000 pages to 08:41 UTC, the world's standard clock, on 8 November 2026. Ripple's page gives 3 to 5 seconds for settlement. A Bitcoin block arrives about every 10 minutes on average, according to the Bitcoin project's website.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for educational purposes only. Any information or analysis in this note does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice, nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.
