Ripple released 1 billion XRP on Sept. 1 through three escrow transactions involving 500 million, 400 million and 100 million tokens, blockchain data showed. The tokens became available after the underlying time locks expired as part of Ripple’s programmed monthly escrow schedule. Approximately 31.28 billion XRP remained in active on-ledger escrows afterward, down from about 32.28 billion before the transactions and equal to roughly 31.28% of XRP’s original 100 billion supply, according to an independent tracker. Ripple had not published an updated official escrow balance at the time of reporting. The unlock does not prove a market sale or a transfer to exchanges, buyers or liquidity providers. Ripple has historically used part of monthly releases for operations, institutional transactions and other corporate purposes, while returning unused XRP to new escrows. The amount returned from September’s release had not been independently verified. New EscrowCreate transactions and activity in Ripple’s operational wallets will be needed to calculate the net release to the market. The next scheduled monthly release window is Oct. 1, when up to another 1 billion XRP could become available, depending on the escrow objects reaching their programmed release dates. XRP traded near $1.39 around the reporting period and was higher over the preceding 24 hours, although the unlock alone does not establish the reason for that movement.