How Many People Own XRP: Distribution, Key Holders & Token Insights

XRP stands out as one of the most widely held cryptocurrencies, but pinning down exactly how many people own it? That’s not so easy. The digital asset powers Ripple’s payment network and has drawn in millions of investors worldwide.

Recent analysis puts the number at about 5.77 million XRP accounts, with roughly 4.82 million addresses holding at least 1 XRP. These figures give you a sense of XRP’s reach across the crypto world. The average XRP holder has around 10,741 tokens, which—at today’s price—comes out to about $24,597.

But there’s more to XRP ownership than just account numbers. The way tokens are distributed says a lot about who really controls the wealth. A handful of large holders own big chunks, while millions of smaller accounts hold more modest amounts.

How Many People Own XRP?

It’s tough to get a precise count of XRP owners because blockchain tech is, by design, anonymous. Still, current data shows over 4.8 million wallet addresses with at least 1 XRP. If you count all holdings, the total comes to around 5.77 million XRP accounts.

Active XRP Accounts and Wallets

The XRP Ledger supports 5,767,344 XRP accounts that together hold 61.9 billion XRP tokens. These are active wallets on the blockchain.

According to Santiment, 4.82 million addresses own at least 1 XRP. That’s a good way to filter out empty or insignificant accounts.

Wealth is pretty concentrated at the top. CoinCarp data says the top 10 addresses control over 11% of all XRP, or about $3.24 billion worth.

Major exchanges like Binance, UPbit, and Uphold dominate the list of biggest holders. Ripple itself has addresses with the most XRP, including one wallet with over 1.7 billion tokens.

On average, the network adds 438,180 new wallets per year since XRP’s launch in 2012.

Challenges in Identifying Unique Owners

The XRP Ledger is a pseudonymous network, so you can’t really know how many unique people own XRP. One person might control several wallet addresses, and there’s no way to link them just by looking at the blockchain.

Exchanges add another layer of confusion. They manage hundreds of thousands of addresses for their users, but those wallets don’t represent individual owners.

Plenty of people and organizations split up their XRP across multiple wallets for security. That practice inflates the account numbers.

The blockchain only reveals wallet addresses, not who’s behind them. Two addresses could belong to the same person, or one address could represent thousands of exchange users.

So, the real number of unique XRP holders is lower than the wallet count, but it still runs into the millions worldwide.

Growth in XRP Adoption Over Time

XRP wallet creation began slowly after its launch on December 6, 2012. Ripple itself registered the first address.

Things really picked up in 2018, with a surge in new wallets. That momentum carried through 2021, with steady increases in adoption.

Now, there are 4.82 million addresses with at least 1 XRP. That’s consistent growth year after year.

XRP’s market performance seems to track with adoption. Its market cap jumped by more than $12 billion in 2023, a 73% increase.

If every address belonged to one person, the XRP holder population would rival major cities—about as many people as live in Kabul, Afghanistan (4.6 million).

XRP Ownership Distribution and Top Holders

XRP ownership is heavily concentrated at the top. The largest 50 addresses control about 60% of the circulating supply, and most of those belong to Ripple Labs and crypto exchanges—not individual investors.

Largest XRP Addresses and Exchanges

The top 10 XRP addresses hold over 23 billion tokens, worth around $55.3 billion. That’s 40.78% of all XRP in circulation.

Exchanges like Upbit lead the pack, with 11 addresses in the top 50 and a combined 5.96% of all coins.

Uphold has the 9th largest address with 1.86 billion XRP. Bithumb sits at number 10 with 1.47 billion tokens.

Other big names—Binance, Kraken, Bitbank—also hold large amounts, though their numbers shift since they manage customer funds across many wallets. Exchange wallets often show up in the rich lists just because they store tokens for so many users.

Ripple Labs, Founders and Major Stakeholders

Ripple Labs holds the lion’s share, with 8 of the top 10 addresses. The company controls about 37% of circulating XRP through various wallets.

Ripple’s largest individual addresses each have around 5 billion tokens, tied to different parts of their business and distribution strategies.

Chris Larsen, Ripple’s co-founder, used to hold billions of XRP. Jed McCaleb, who later founded Stellar, sold off his XRP over several years as part of a settlement.

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, also owns a significant amount, though the exact numbers aren’t public. Company execs get XRP as part of their compensation.

Exchange Versus Individual Holdings

Crypto exchanges hold XRP for millions of retail and institutional users. This concentration shows up in the rich lists but doesn’t reflect how tokens are spread among actual people.

Most individual XRP holders have much smaller amounts. There are over 6 million XRP addresses in total, with an average balance of 10,741 XRP per account.

The top 5% of holders own 11,000 or more tokens, while the top 1% hold at least 69,000. Only the top 0.01% of addresses have 6 million or more XRP.

Most people own between 100 and 10,000 tokens. Because exchanges act as custodians, it’s tough to pin down what true individual ownership looks like.

XRP Rich List and Token Distribution

The XRP rich list shows a pretty striking concentration compared to other cryptocurrencies. The top 10 addresses alone control 40.78% of the supply, and those ranked 11-50 grab another 21.45%.

Distribution breakdown:

Top 10 addresses: 40.78% of supply

Addresses 11-50: 21.45% of supply

Remaining addresses: 37.77% of supply

Total addresses: 6,114,724

That level of concentration actually beats Bitcoin, where the top 10 addresses only hold about 5.7% of the coins. But if you look at some altcoins like Dogecoin, XRP’s distribution isn’t quite as extreme—Dogecoin’s top addresses control 46.6%.

Right now, the circulating supply sits at roughly 57.7 billion XRP tokens. Ripple releases 1 billion tokens each month from escrow, but most of those just end up going right back in.