REALITY CHECK · PILOT · VERIFIED 7 OCT 2026

XRP

Mixed evidence Evidence 95%

Evidence score: what we could verify, not a forecast

What can be checked

Key facts

TeamPublic team

Why

XRP was created by Ripple's founders; the SEC complaint names Ripple Labs, Inc. and co-founder Christian A. Larsen (executive chairman) and identifies two other co-founders by role (Arthur Britto appears as a holder in the CCN list). Bradley Garlinghouse is named as defendant/CEO in SEC LR-26369. The XRPL itself is maintained by a community of contributors and 150+ validators, with Ripple as one contributor; a company (Ripple) did sell and still holds XRP.

source source source

Legal entityIdentified

Why

Ripple Labs, Inc. (formerly OpenCoin, Inc.), Delaware corporation founded September 2012, principal place of business San Francisco, California, USA (per SEC complaint). XRPL Foundation also exists but its legal form was not verified.

source

Independent auditPublished

Why

Halborn audited four XRPL amendments for Ripple (Credentials, Permissioned Domains, Batch, Single Asset Vault); this is an audit of selected amendments, not a full-ledger audit. Audit dates not published on the page read; a full audit of the base rippled ledger was not found.

source

Control riskNo privileged key

Why

Protocol changes require amendments supported by more than 80% of trusted validators for two weeks; no veto holder described. Native XRP cannot be frozen by anyone on the ledger (xrpl.org); issuers can freeze only tokens they issue. Supply is fixed (99.99B total, max 100B per CoinGecko). Ripple holds a large share (about 39.95B incl. about 35.7B in time-locked escrow per CCN/XRPSCAN) and runs one validator, but this is holding, not a privileged key per the sources read.

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New supply, next 12 months12%

Why

Maximum scheduled: Ripple's escrow is 55 contracts of 1B XRP each expiring monthly; unused XRP is re-escrowed to a new contract (Ripple's announcement). Next 12 monthly contracts = at most 12B = 12% of 100B max supply. Actual net release is lower because Ripple re-locks unused amounts (e.g. Feb 2026 whale-tracker samples); no exact net figure verified. Ripple's escrow remainder of about 35.7B per CCN suggests the schedule extends beyond 12 months.

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Revenue evidenceCheckable on-chain

Why

XRPL transaction fees (all burned) visible on DefiLlama: total1y 300,114; no protocol revenue accrues to a company from them.

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Market context

Price beside proof

Market cap$89.56Brank 5 · 7 Oct 2026

Fully diluted value$142B

Annual fees (DefiLlama)$300K

How measured

DefiLlama XRPL chain fees, total1y = 300,114 (USD assumed, unit not stated on the API response). Per DefiLlama methodology all XRPL transaction fees are burned; no separate revenue total was returned. The DefiLlama chain page showed an unverified suggested-prompt text citing 15.8M annual app fees, not used.

Market cap per $1 of fees298,420 x

Top 10 holders (not scored)64.1%

How counted

XRPSCAN data as of 2026-09-09 via CCN, aggregated by entity (not single addresses): Ripple 39.95% (about 35.7B in escrow + about 4.25B in accounts), Upbit 6.41, Coinbase 5.82, Binance 2.74, Chris Larsen 2.53, Bithumb 1.84, unidentified 1.80, Uphold 1.62, Arthur Britto 1.30, bitbank 0.57. Includes exchange custody and Ripple escrow. Secondary source (XRPSCAN page itself did not render).

Listed on KrakenYesKraken audit

Context only: not scored and not a valuation. Aggregator data as of 7 Oct 2026.

Price and a what-if

Today's price, and what it would take

Price$1.42snapshot 7 Oct 2026

Last 30 days

Snapshot from the aggregator on 7 Oct 2026. To see the live price, press the button: it loads from CoinGecko and CoinGecko will see your IP address (see the privacy notice).

What-if lens: which price does a multiple of fees imply?

Pick a multiple of the last 12 months of fees. The tool shows the token price that multiple would imply with today's supply. The multiple is your assumption, not our estimate. Fees are tiny compared with the market cap (298,420 x), so this lens says little here: the price rests on something else.

Implied price

Fees are what users pay, not what holders receive: how much reaches token holders depends on the design (burns, treasury, fee switches, validators). The result ignores issuance, risk, growth and time. A lens to ask questions, not a valuation or advice.

Score breakdown

Where the points come from

Accountability15 / 15

Team publicly identified: yes; Legal entity or foundation identified: yes

Code and audits15 / 15

Independent audit published: yes; Audit date not verified (unscored); Source code public: yes

Control risk10 / 10

No privileged key found that can change rules, mint or freeze outside open consensus

New supply6 / 10

New supply entering circulation in the next 12 months: up to 12% of supply

Verifiable revenue10 / 10

Fees can be checked on-chain

Security record15 / 15

No incident found in our search (not an exhaustive guarantee)

Compliance record8 / 15

1 regulator or court action(s) recorded

Track record

Incidents and legal actions

Incidents

None found in our search.

Regulator and court actions

2024-08-07 SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., Bradley Garlinghouse and Christian A. Larsen (S.D.N.Y., 1:20-cv-10832), filed Dec 2020 alleging unregistered securities offering of XRP. Outcome: Final judgment entered 2024-08-07 by the S.D.N.Y. court: civil penalty of $125,035,150 against Ripple Labs plus an injunction against violating Securities Act registration provisions. In May 2025 SEC and Ripple jointly asked to release escrowed funds with $50M to the SEC; per SEC LR-26369 the parties later dismissed the cross-appeals in the Second Circuit and the judgment remains in effect. Fine or settlement of about 1M or more source

Limits

What we could not verify

Not verified: exact net XRP release over next 12 months (only the 12B contract maximum); full-ledger independent audit and audit dates (Halborn covers four amendments only); XRPL Foundation legal form; XRPSCAN rich list read directly (rendered only via CCN/Coingape secondary reports); XRPL revenue (DefiLlama gave fees only, USD unit assumed). Market cap/FDV/price rounded from CoinGecko page text.

Facts as of 7 Oct 2026. Searches are not exhaustive. Report an error with a source: corrections policy. Education only, not investment advice.

Sources

[1] CoinGecko XRP accessed 2026-10-07
[2] Kraken XRP price page accessed 2026-10-07
[3] DefiLlama API XRPL fees accessed 2026-10-07
[4] DefiLlama XRPL chain page accessed 2026-10-07
[5] SEC LR-26369 Ripple accessed 2026-10-07
[6] SEC LR-26306 Ripple final judgment accessed 2026-10-07
[7] SEC complaint 2020-338 accessed 2026-10-07
[8] XRPL amendments accessed 2026-10-07
[9] XRPL freezes accessed 2026-10-07
[10] XRPL about accessed 2026-10-07
[11] rippled GitHub accessed 2026-10-07
[12] Halborn XRPL amendments case study accessed 2026-10-07
[13] CCN top 10 XRP holders accessed 2026-10-07
[14] Coingape XRP rich list Sept 2026 accessed 2026-10-07
[15] Ripple escrow announcement accessed 2026-10-07
[16] MEXC news on Feb 2026 escrow accessed 2026-10-07

Questions

Common questions about XRP

Is XRP a good investment?

This page does not say, and it is not investment advice. It shows what can be checked. In our pilot check, XRP shows mixed evidence, score 88 out of 100, with 95% of the evidence verified. Price and market value are context, not a valuation. Use the key facts and sources above and decide for yourself.

Who controls XRP?

Control risk: No privileged key. Details and sources are in the key facts above.

Has XRP been independently audited?

Independent audit: Published. Details and sources are in the key facts above.

How much new XRP supply is coming in the next 12 months?

New supply in the next 12 months: 12% of the current supply. Details and sources are in the key facts above.

Does XRP have revenue we can check?

Revenue evidence: Checkable on-chain. Details and sources are in the key facts above.