Ripple Dominates XRP Ownership, but Exchange Custody Raises Questions
XRP, one of the largest cryptocurrencies, has a highly uneven distribution of ownership among its users. According to a snapshot of the XRP Ledger in September 2026, there are over 8.19 million funded accounts, but reaching the top 1% of these accounts requires a substantial balance of at least 44,596 XRP. The top 5% threshold is considerably lower at 7,459 XRP, and the top 10% requires approximately 2,127 XRP.
Ripple, the company behind XRP, is the largest identifiable holder of the cryptocurrency, with approximately 35.7 billion XRP in escrow and around 4.095 billion XRP across 31 accounts. Major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Upbit, Coinbase, and Binance, also hold significant amounts of XRP, with Upbit controlling around 6.394 billion XRP, Coinbase holding roughly 5.819 billion XRP, and Binance controlling approximately 2.735 billion XRP.
However, it's essential to note that these exchange holdings represent custodial wallets, and substantial portions of these XRP may belong to customers, not the exchanges themselves. Similarly, a single investor or company can control multiple XRP Ledger addresses, making it challenging to determine exact beneficial ownership based on wallet balances alone.