- •How many people own XRP remains unknown, despite more than 8.04 million funded accounts.
- •Around 85% of funded XRP Ledger accounts hold less than 1,000 XRP.
- •Chris Larsen is the largest identified individual holder, controlling 2.53 billion XRP across 6 accounts.
- •Ripple controls 34.84 billion XRP, with most of the balance locked in scheduled escrow.
The XRP Ledger is one of the oldest active blockchain networks, launched only a few years after Bitcoin. Its native asset, XRP, has remained one of the most followed cryptocurrencies, whether because of its payment-focused technology, Ripple’s involvement, the SEC lawsuit, or its long-standing market position. This is why people search how many people own XRP, as ownership can help indicate the project’s relevance today. To reach a reasonable estimate, we analyzed several metrics and reviewed data from different sources.
| Statistic | Latest Figure |
|---|---|
| Funded XRPL accounts | 8,045,735 |
| Estimated individual XRP owners | Unknown |
| Daily active users | 155,796 |
| Daily active accounts | 14,601 |
| New accounts activated | 2,111 |
| Total XRP remaining | 99.99B XRP |
| Circulating XRP | 67.84B XRP |
| XRP locked in escrow | 32.14B XRP |
| Accounts holding 1,000+ XRP | 1,161,548 |
| Accounts holding 10,000+ XRP | 339,014 |
| Accounts holding 100,000+ XRP | 32,286 |
| Accounts holding 1M+ XRP | 2,028 |
| XRP needed for top 1% | 44,823 XRP |
| Largest identified individual holder | Chris Larsen, 2.53B XRP |
How Many People Own XRP?
During our analysis, data from the XRP Ledger showed 8,045,735 funded accounts. This is the closest confirmed on-chain figure available, but it does not mean that exactly 8.04 million people own XRP.
An XRPL account represents an address recorded on the ledger rather than a verified person. One person can control several accounts, which can make the account total higher than the actual number of owners. However, the same figure can also undercount ownership because exchanges frequently hold XRP for many customers through shared accounts.
This is especially relevant on the XRP Ledger because exchanges use destination tags to identify individual customers receiving funds through the same address. As a result, one exchange account may represent thousands or even millions of XRP owners.
XRPL activity data helps show this difference. The figures we analyzed recorded 155,796 active users when source and destination tags were included. These tags can represent separate customers using the same exchange or custodial account.
In comparison, the network recorded 14,601 active accounts based on unique senders. This figure is much lower because one shared account can process transactions for several users identified through separate tags.
However, neither figure represents the total number of XRP owners. Active-user data only counts users or accounts involved in transactions during a particular period. Holders who did not move their XRP are not included.
New-account data has a similar limitation. One daily reading showed 2,111 newly activated accounts, but each activated account does not necessarily represent a new XRP owner. An existing holder may create another wallet, while someone buying XRP through an exchange may never activate a personal XRPL account.
Therefore, the most accurate answer is that more than 8.04 million funded accounts hold XRP on-chain. An unknown number of additional people hold XRP through exchanges and other custodial services, so the exact number of individual owners cannot currently be calculated.
How XRP Is Distributed
XRP ownership is heavily concentrated among a relatively small number of accounts. Although the XRP Ledger has more than 8.04 million funded accounts, around 85% hold less than 1,000 XRP. Together, these smaller accounts control only around 0.43% of the XRP recorded across funded accounts.
A large portion of accounts sit at the lower end of the distribution. More than 2.4 million accounts hold between 1 and 10 XRP, while another 3.51 million hold between 10 and 100 XRP. Since every XRPL account must maintain a base reserve of 1 XRP, some of these balances may simply be accounts retaining their required reserve rather than active holders.
| XRP Balance | Number of Accounts | Share of Accounts |
|---|---|---|
| At least 1,000 XRP | 1,161,548 | 14.44% |
| At least 10,000 XRP | 339,014 | 4.21% |
| At least 100,000 XRP | 32,286 | 0.40% |
| At least 1 million XRP | 2,028 | 0.03% |
| At least 10 million XRP | 524 | Below 0.01% |
The difference becomes clearer when looking at XRP ownership percentiles. An account needs 2,145 XRP to enter the top 10%, while 44,823 XRP places it among the top 1% of funded XRPL accounts.
| Ownership Tier | Minimum XRP Required |
|---|---|
| Top 50% | 20 XRP |
| Top 25% | 110 XRP |
| Top 10% | 2,145 XRP |
| Top 5% | 7,499 XRP |
| Top 1% | 44,823 XRP |
| Top 0.1% | 275,106 XRP |
The top 1% of accounts control approximately 92% of the XRP attributed to funded accounts. However, this does not mean that 1% of individual investors personally own 92% of XRP. The largest accounts include Ripple’s escrow accounts, exchanges, custodians, and other services holding funds for many customers.
Around 32.14 billion XRP is also locked in escrow. Since the distribution data counts spendable balances alongside XRP controlled through escrow, Ripple’s scheduled escrow accounts have a significant effect on the concentration figures. Exchange accounts create a similar issue because one address can represent deposits belonging to thousands or millions of customers.
The data therefore shows how XRP is distributed across ledger accounts, not precisely how it is divided among individual people.
Who Owns the Most XRP?
Identifying the largest individual XRP holders is difficult because XRPL addresses do not contain verified owner information. Most large accounts belong to Ripple, exchanges, custodians, or unidentified entities. However, several accounts have been publicly attributed to XRP Ledger co-founders Chris Larsen and Arthur Britto.
| Rank | XRP Holder | XRP Held | Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Larsen | 2.53B XRP | 6 |
| 2 | Unidentified holder (rJ9Ey…UDt7) | 1.80B XRP | 1 |
| 3 | Arthur Britto | 1.20B XRP | 6 |
| 4 | Unidentified holder (rU9qm…E7YL1T) | 500M XRP | 1 |
| 5 | Unidentified holder (rwshj…GX3U3q) | 470.2M XRP | 1 |
Jed McCaleb, one of the XRP Ledger’s original creators, does not appear in the table despite initially receiving 9 billion XRP. After leaving Ripple, he gradually sold and distributed his allocation under agreements that limited his sales based on XRP’s market volume. He eventually sold the remaining XRP from his tacostand wallet, leaving him without a major publicly tracked XRP balance.
How Much XRP Does Ripple Hold?
Our analysis found that Ripple controls approximately 34.84 billion XRP across 12 identified accounts, representing around 34.84% of the remaining XRP supply. However, most of these holdings are not immediately available to Ripple because 31.5 billion XRP remains locked in on-chain escrow.
| Ripple Holdings | XRP |
|---|---|
| Total controlled | 34.84B XRP |
| Locked in escrow | 31.50B XRP |
| Held outside escrow | 3.34B XRP |
| Share of remaining supply | 34.84% |
Ripple originally received 80 billion of the 100 billion XRP created at launch. Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and Chris Larsen formed the company, initially called NewCoin, Inc., while retaining the remaining 20 billion XRP.
Ripple later placed 55 billion XRP into time-based escrows. Up to 1 billion XRP becomes available monthly, though much of it is placed into new escrows. Chris Larsen and Arthur Britto’s personal holdings remain separate from Ripple’s company balance.
Bottom Line
As with every cryptocurrency, there is no single answer to how many people hold XRP. We only have estimates, and they may be far off in either direction. Although the XRP Ledger shows 8.04 million funded accounts, 6 of the largest accounts are attributed to Chris Larsen alone, and many other individuals may control multiple accounts. At the same time, one exchange account can hold XRP for hundreds of thousands of customers. If topics like this interest you, check out our findings on how many people currently hold Bitcoin.
FAQs
1. Who owns the most XRP?
Chris Larsen is the largest identified individual holder, with approximately 2.53 billion XRP across six attributed accounts.
2. How much XRP does Ripple hold?
Ripple controls approximately 34.84 billion XRP, including around 31.5 billion XRP locked in escrow.
3. How many XRP accounts hold 10,000 XRP?
Around 339,014 funded accounts hold at least 10,000 XRP, placing them within the top 4.21%.
4. Does Jed McCaleb still own XRP?
Jed McCaleb sold and distributed his original 9 billion XRP allocation, leaving no major publicly tracked balance.
