Q4 2019 XRP Markets Report

Ripple has historically distributed the XRP in its treasury through two channels: programmatic and institutional direct. Programmatic refers to XRP sales done through exchanges. Institutional Direct refers to XRP sales done over-the-counter (OTC) to strategic partners.

Until Q3’19 Ripple performed programmatic sales according to a set percentage of trading volume (20bps). However, due to concerns over volume inflation, Ripple eventually decided to halt programmatic sales part-way through Q3, instead electing to focus solely on its OTC sales with a few strategic partners, who are building XRP utility and liquidity in strategic regions.

Thus, in their latest quarter Ripple did not sell any XRP through its programmatic channels, instead selling just $13 million worth of XRP OTC. This represented not only the first time Ripple did not sell XRP through exchanges since Q1’17, but also the lowest amount they’ve sold entirely since Q1’17 as well.

Interestingly, the steep drop off coincides with Ripple’s $200 million Series C round announced in December of last year. The $200 million capital raise would make a significant difference, closing the $342 million gap down from 1H’19 to 2H’19 showing that previous XRP sales have likely been used for funding Ripple's ongoing operations.