Ripple said its over-the-counter, or OTC, sales of XRP climbed sharply in the second quarter, reaching $32.55 million, compared with just $1.75 million in the previous quarter. The move represents a 1,760% increase and highlights a notable shift in how the company is distributing XRP after suspending programmatic sales late last year.
According to Ripple’s earnings update published on August 3, programmatic sales, which involved selling XRP through third-party trading venues, remain on hold. Ripple had previously halted that practice after a period of declining XRP sales. In Q2, the company instead leaned more heavily on OTC transactions, which it said serve a strategic role in supporting customers that rely on XRP-based payment flows.
Sales rose, but market activity weakened
Despite the major jump in OTC sales, XRP’s broader market activity moved in the opposite direction during the April-to-June period. Ripple reported that average daily XRP volume fell to 196.3 million from 322 million in the first quarter, a decline of roughly 40%. In dollar terms, total XRP trading volume for the quarter dropped to $17.8 billion, down from $29.6 billion in the prior quarter.
These figures suggest that while Ripple increased direct institutional-style sales, trading participation across the broader XRP market softened meaningfully. That contrast is one of the most important takeaways from the quarter: Ripple’s own XRP distribution strategy became more active even as overall market turnover declined.
Ripple ties OTC strategy to ODL liquidity needs
Ripple said the stronger emphasis on OTC sales is intended to improve XRP liquidity for users of RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product. ODL uses XRP as a bridge asset in cross-border payments, allowing customers to source liquidity without holding prefunded accounts in destination markets.
The company stated that ODL now accounts for 20% of RippleNet volume. It also said ODL transaction volume grew 11x in the first half of 2020 compared with the same period a year earlier. Those figures support Ripple’s argument that XRP’s utility within payment infrastructure, rather than speculative exchange trading alone, is becoming a larger part of the asset’s market story.
From Ripple’s perspective, OTC sales are not simply revenue-generating transactions; they are part of a liquidity management framework designed to serve institutions and payment customers operating through ODL. By directing XRP through negotiated channels instead of open-market programmatic sales, Ripple appears to be trying to align token distribution more closely with enterprise settlement needs.
Secondary market purchases remain part of the approach
Ripple also disclosed that it has been purchasing XRP on the secondary market and may continue to do so in the future at market prices. That statement is notable because it shows Ripple’s role in the XRP ecosystem is not limited to selling tokens. The company presented these purchases as part of its responsibility in maintaining what it described as a healthy and orderly XRP market.
Ripple argued that strong market structure is necessary to reduce both cost and risk for customers using XRP in payment flows. In its view, deeper liquidity helps support the scaling of ODL, and increased adoption by financial institutions should, over time, bring additional liquidity into the XRP market.
That message fits into Ripple’s longer-running effort to frame XRP as a functional liquidity asset rather than only a speculative cryptocurrency. The company’s comments suggest it sees market depth, smoother execution, and reduced volatility as important prerequisites for broader financial usage.
Derivatives expansion adds another source of liquidity
Beyond Ripple’s own sales and purchases, the company pointed to growth in XRP-linked derivatives as another contributor to market liquidity. It specifically referenced new products such as XRP options on Binance and XRP perpetual swaps on Huobi. These instruments can broaden participation by giving traders and institutions more tools for hedging, positioning, and managing risk around XRP exposure.
While derivatives do not necessarily translate directly into spot demand, they can increase overall market efficiency and deepen liquidity pools. Ripple’s inclusion of these products in its discussion indicates that it views the XRP market as developing beyond simple spot exchange trading toward a more mature structure with multiple layers of participation.
Volatility declined in the quarter
Ripple said XRP volatility fell to 3.0% during the period under review, a decline of 6.2% from the first quarter. The company added that XRP was less volatile than both bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) during the quarter. Lower volatility can be especially important for payment-focused use cases, since businesses moving value across borders typically prefer assets with more stable trading behavior and reduced execution risk.
In that context, the lower volatility reading may support Ripple’s broader message that XRP is becoming more suitable for practical liquidity provision. Still, volatility is only one part of the picture, and the quarter’s weaker trading volumes show that reduced price swings did not necessarily coincide with stronger market participation.
A quarter of mixed signals
Overall, Ripple’s second-quarter update presents a mixed but strategically revealing picture. On one hand, the company’s OTC XRP sales surged to $32.55 million, showing a significant shift in distribution and a more direct effort to support institutional and ODL-related liquidity needs. On the other hand, XRP’s broader market activity weakened, with both unit volume and dollar-denominated trading volume falling sharply from the previous quarter.
The key theme in Ripple’s report is that XRP liquidity is being managed with a growing focus on utility inside RippleNet, especially through ODL. Whether that approach can offset softer spot-market participation remains an open question, but the quarter makes clear that Ripple is actively reshaping how XRP enters and circulates through the market.