XRP's 63 billion circulating supply isn't what's for sale, CryptoSlate analysis says

Exchange wallets aren't order books

XRP Insights, a ledger-data tracker, counted 21.97 billion XRP in exchange-attributed wallets at 08:00 UTC on Oct. 8, spread across 699 wallets and 24 venues. That's a big number. It isn't a sell queue, though. Those balances include pooled customer assets and cold storage, and same-wallet balances fell by 44.0 million XRP over the seven days to Oct. 8.

Order books tell a much smaller story. An Oct. 8 CoinGecko snapshot showed +2% depth of about $2.4 million for Binance XRP/USDT and $4.0 million for Coinbase XRP/USD (two pairs only, and the figures shift as orders change).

The tracker's totals have their own wrinkles. Its exchange balances included 477.4 million XRP of wrapped-token reserves and other funds, and 140.4 million of that (backing cbXRP) also shows up under decentralized finance, so subtracting both risks counting it twice. XRP Insights also leaves identified US spot ETF custody wallets without public exchange labels out of its exchange total.

Definitions, not inventory

CryptoSlate's XRP market page displayed approximately 63.09 billion circulating tokens on Oct. 8, while XRP Insights counted 68.59 billion outside Ripple escrow after burns, with 31.40 billion still escrowed. CoinGecko's methodology excludes escrow and can also exclude unlocked team or foundation holdings.

"The roughly 63 billion to 69 billion span therefore compares definitions."

Funds, Ripple and the estimates

Bitwise's XRP fund held about 419.96 million XRP on Oct. 6, and Franklin XRPZ held about 295.83 million on Oct. 5. Those differently dated snapshots add up to 715.79 million XRP and cover two funds, not the whole ETF market. Bitwise's Sept. 28 prospectus lets authorized participants redeem through delivery of XRP or cash from XRP sales. Retail investors can't redeem individual shares directly.

Ripple's June 30, 2026, disclosure reported 37.656 billion XRP held overall, including 32.6 billion in escrow (implying roughly 5.056 billion outside escrow at that date). Its Q1 2025 report said some XRP transferred to investment vehicles could stay classified as Ripple-held until it's expected to enter the broader market.

XRP Radar estimates founders' holdings at 4.60 billion XRP and lost or inaccessible XRP at 531 million, a figure the analysis calls unverifiable. Wright wrote that neither number demonstrates a current locked balance.

Wright's bottom line is narrower than the headline numbers: circulating supply gives the market's scale, sell orders show what's being offered, and a defensible buyable-supply range would need a price limit and a time window.