A claim that Ripple should burn approximately 3.2 billion of the XRP it holds in escrow is once again spreading across the cryptocurrency market. However, experts point out that Ripple cannot execute this unilaterally, and it remains uncertain whether a burn would provide any substantial benefit to the XRP price.

Escrow Burn Theory Resurfaces According to the overseas crypto media outlet CoinGape, based on XRPScan data, approximately 32.45 billion XRP are currently locked in escrow. The circulating supply is around 67.53 billion, and the total supply on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is 100 billion. Only about 1.44 million XRP have been permanently burned as transaction fees, meaning the total amount available for burning is roughly 99.99 billion. Of this, Ripple is estimated to hold approximately 32%.

"Ripple Cannot Burn XRP Unilaterally" CoinGape reported the analysis of Jake Claver, a cryptocurrency commentator and chairman of Digital Ascension Group. Claver stated on X (formerly Twitter), "There is talk about why Ripple doesn't just burn the escrowed XRP, but they cannot do that."

A video he released confirmed the same point. Ripple currently operates only 3 of the 35 trusted validators on the XRPL, and protocol changes require an 80% consensus from all validators. Claver explained, "Ripple can put XRP back into escrow or lock it up, and they can transfer it elsewhere, but they cannot burn it without a vote from the UNL validators." CoinGape noted that the XRPL v3.2.0 upgrade released on June 15 (local time) was also applied through this same validator voting process.

David Schwartz: "Burning Is Destroying a Valuable Asset" Claver also referenced comments made by David Schwartz, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who expressed a similar view in February 2024 (local time). According to CoinGape, Schwartz stated during a discussion of Ripple's long-term XRP holding strategy, "The original plan was to reduce our holdings quickly within a few years, mostly through giveaways, but that strategy was not effective." He added, "I don't want to hold a lot of XRP for decades, but right now there is no clear alternative."

When an X user later proposed burning the escrowed amount every month to boost the XRP price, Schwartz pushed back. He said, "There is no reason to believe that would have a positive effect on the price," noting that Stellar had previously burned tokens but it had 'no real impact' on the XLM price. Schwartz asked, "Why would Ripple choose to give up millions of dollars in value when no effect has been demonstrated?" adding that Stellar's token burn only reduced the foundation's assets.

He also presented several charts, stating, "Stellar burned 53% of its total supply, but it is difficult to find any impact on the XLM/USD, XLM/BTC, or XLM/XRP charts." He concluded, "Burning is simply destroying a valuable asset."

Summary: Burn Impossible and Price Effect Unproven CoinGape reported that combining Claver's explanation and Schwartz's previous statements reveals the position that Ripple cannot unilaterally burn the XRP held in escrow, and even if a burn were to occur, there is insufficient evidence that it would benefit the XRP price or ecosystem.

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