CTO Stellar and architect Ripple, Jed McCaleb, withdrew a whopping $ 411 million in XRP in 2020, according to an updated report from the blockchain analytics account Whale Alert.
McCaleb sold 1.2 billion XRP throughout the year at an average price of $ 0.34 per currency – amassing close to half a billion dollars. The sum reportedly represents 27% of McCaleb’s XRP stock that is in a settlement account with Ripple Labs and marks a strong acceleration of its sales to date. He sold about a billion XRP in the five years between 2014 and 2019.
We updated our analysis of one of the most famous #XRP whales out there. You can read about what is probably one of the most successful traders of 2020 in the article below! Http://t.co/Czw3nP8bW9
– Whale alert (@whale_alert) December 29, 2020
By Whale Alert estimates, the combined value of McCaleb’s current and paid XRP holdings is approximately $ 1.2 billion, placing it at the top of the crypto rich list.
McCaleb also appears to have timed his sales well, with Ripple currently facing lawsuits from the SEC and a major investor who participated in the company’s $ 200 million C Series financing round in 2019.
McCaleb controversially received a co-founder reward of 9.5 billion XRP when he left Ripple Labs in 2014. During the same year, McCaleb signed an agreement with Ripple Labs that limited the amount of XRP he can sell per week to avoid pressure negative impact on the market.
Despite receiving widespread criticism, McCaleb repeatedly tried to assure investors that his sale did not impact the price of XRP. McCaleb’s agreement with Ripple Labs ends in 2023.
On January 1, 2020, McCaleb received XRP 477.7 million from his settlement account with Ripple Labs. McCaleb’s associated portfolio still contains 652.1 million XRP – worth approximately $ 147 million at current prices.
In the original report on McCaleb’s XRP sales in February, Whale Alert warned of the potential risks associated with a single entity that has such significant economic influence over a project with which they are no longer involved:
“Whether or not you believe the future is bright for block chains like Ripple, the economic power and the aftermath of whales like Jed McCaleb cannot be ignored …”