Ripple buys back XRP for the first time to support 'healthy markets'

Ripple for the first time bought $46 million worth of XRP in the third quarter of 2020, despite already owning nearly half of the digital asset's supply.

Ripple said the purchase was made to support "healthy markets," possibly referring to creating interest around XRP and thereby raising its price.

A Ripple spokesperson told The Block that the company may continue to purchase XRP to also support its newly launched product — Line of Credit beta — which allows On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) customers to buy XRP on credit from Ripple. The ODL solution leverages XRP for fund transfers. 

"Long-term, Ripple is building new ODL capabilities to dynamically source XRP liquidity from the open market, not just Ripple," said the spokesperson.

Ripple's Q3 sales were also related to its ODL solution. "ODL-related sales include XRP sales to support ODL (including Line of Credit) and key infrastructure," said the spokesperson.

Ripple sold $35.84 million worth of XRP to ODL customers in Q3 on a net basis, compared to $32.55 million worth of XRP to direct institutions in Q2. There were no programmatic sales, i.e., XRP sales to cryptocurrency exchanges, in Q3.
In other news, Ripple has also opened a new regional headquarters office in Dubai International Financial Centre, which has its own independent judicial system and regulatory framework.