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. 

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

"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.

TAGS
XRP

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.