San Francisco-based enterprise blockchain company Ripple has once again unlocked 1 billion XRP tokens, according to data provided by crypto wallet tracking platform Whale Alert. 

Back in 2017, the company decided to place a total of 55 billion XRP tokens into several escrow wallets. The company started releasing 1 billion XRP tokens on a monthly basis in order to make the supply of the controversial cryptocurrency more predictable. However, the number of tokens that do end up in circulation typically tends to be smaller than the aforementioned threshold.

As explained by Ripple CTO David Schwartz, the XRP tends to remain in the expired escrow until someone (anyone) cancels it. "Many escrows are split into multiple escrows that expire at the same time for administrative convenience," he added. 

Was the escrow a good idea?  

In January, the Ripple CTO stated that the company's initial goal was to reduce its XRP holdings as quickly as possible. 

Schwartz is still not sure whether the escrow was actually a good idea. After initially opposing the creation of the escrow, he remains on the fence. 

Can the escrow be burned? 

As reported by U.Today, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse did not rule out burning XRP tokens from the escrow, claiming that he was "open" to new ideas that could be beneficial for the XRP ecosystem.  

According to Schwartz, probably blackholing the account the escrow completes into could unilaterally create the same effect as burning an escrow. This would ensure that no XRP from escrow can ever get into circulation again.