Ripple is set to unlock up to 1 billion XRP from escrow on January 1, 2026, marking the company’s first scheduled token release of the new year. With just over two weeks to go and markets already familiar with Ripple’s monthly escrow cycle, attention is shifting to how much of the unlocked supply could ultimately reach circulation and whether it may influence XRP price action in early January. The upcoming unlock follows a long-standing mechanism introduced in 2017, under which Ripple locked tens of billions of XRP into time-based escrows to provide transparency and predictability around supply. Under this system, 1 billion XRP is released at the start of each month, after which Ripple typically reallocates a portion for operational use while returning the remainder to new escrow contracts
source: https://finbold.com/ripple-prepares-for-its-first-xrp-dump-of-2026/