Ripple Releases Report for Q1 2019 Amid XRP Downfall
CryptoBit News Today3 min read
Ripple sold $169.42 million in XRP in the first quarter of 2019, marking a 31 percent increase compared to the $129.03 million sold in the previous quarter. The San Francisco-based company reported that direct institutional sales of XRP totaled $61.93 million in Q1, a 54 percent increase from the prior quarter. Programmatic sales grew 21 percent, reaching $107.49 million.
Looking at annual comparisons, sales of XRP have not demonstrated substantial expansion. In Q1 2018, Ripple sold $167.7 million worth of XRP, just 1.03 percent less than in Q1 2019.
XRP Market and Volatility
Despite the sales increase, the price of XRP decreased throughout the quarter. The asset's daily returns volatility was only 2.9%, making it the second lowest quarter of volatility in XRP's history, after Q4 2013.
Rolling volatility of 30-day returns steadily declined, reaching its lowest level since Q3 2016 by the end of Q1 2019. Daily trading volume remained strong at an average of $595.28 million, on par with Q4 2018. The total volume traded globally decreased 2 percent to $53.85 billion.
Throughout the quarter, XRP maintained a consistently strong correlation with other leading digital assets. The reduced volatility benefits Ripple's remittance functionality by helping preserve the token's value during transfers.
Escrow Releases and Token Holdings
During the first quarter of 2019, three billion XRP left escrow at a rate of one billion each month. A total of 2.3 billion XRP were subsequently placed back into new escrow contracts. The remaining 700 million were allocated to support the XRP ecosystem.
Ripple Labs remains the largest XRP holder with 53 billion tokens in time-locked escrow accounts, released in increments of one billion per month. The firm uses these funds for partnerships, network development and ecosystem investments, according to its Q1 report.
However, Ripple's substantial XRP concentration has drawn criticism from some in the crypto community. NANO founder Colin LeMahieu told Crypto Briefing in December that multiple foreign exchange firms rejected Ripple because one entity owns over half the market capitalization, calling it a flaw that will stop companies from adopting Ripple as their primary settlement tool.
Partnerships and Exchange Listings
Q1 saw numerous key partnerships and exchange listings for XRP and related technologies. 19 new exchanges began trading XRP, raising the total to around 120 globally.
Notable new RippleNet clients include Euro Exim Bank, SendFriend, JNFX, Transpaygo, FTCS, Ahli Bank of Kuwait, among others. Five of those customers plan to use XRP for on-demand liquidity. Nadeem Ladki, Ripple's Director of Business Development, argued that Ripple's "working product" gives it an edge over rivals in the remittance space.
Regulatory Developments
Regulatory developments in digital assets continued to surface globally in Q1. The Basel Committee, which sets the international standard for bank regulation, released its initial guidance on digital asset acquisition.
The European Banking Authority alongside the European Securities and Markets Authority put forward digital asset frameworks, urging their implementation as standardized rules across Europe. Thailand licensed four digital asset firms, while the Thai Stock Exchange sought a trading license for digital assets.
The Securities Commission in Malaysia plans to introduce a regulatory framework setting standards for initial coin offerings and digital asset transactions. In South Africa, the financial regulatory organization released a consultation paper on digital asset regulation. And in the Middle East, Bahrain published the first comprehensive digital asset regulation by a central bank.
